


Gatesverse

by adrabbler



Series: Gatesverse [4]
Category: 2P Hetalia - Fandom, Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-26 14:57:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 20,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7578517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adrabbler/pseuds/adrabbler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set a few centuries from today, America is up to his scientific shenanigans again, this time opening a rift between two universes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Somebody poked America on the back of his head. He raised his head groggily and blindly groped for his cup of coffee. It was pushed into his searching fingers.

“As much as I like that you’re staying in Alaska, I think you should go back to DC, eh,” he heard Canada’s voice sounding concerned.

America tried to speak but all that came out was unintelligible gurgle.

A long-suffering sigh. “Drink the coffee, America.”

America obeyed, liquid ambrosia passing through his lips. He coughed and cleared his throat, and looked at the blurred figure in front of him, who he assumes is Canada.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at France’s?”

“No. England’s there,” Canada said, distaste apparent in his voice. “You know how they forget to lock doors.”

America shuddered. He walked in on them too. Several times. You’d think they’d figure out how to lock them after all these years. His glasses were suddenly perched onto his nose. He touched the cold frames groggily. “Thanks, brah.”

Now that he can see Canada, he can see the glare on his neighbor’s face. “What time did you sleep? Did you even sleep at all?”

He chuckled, sipping more of his coffee. “Not for some ten days, broski.” Speaking of which, he’s run out of coke and red bull. Mmmmm. Better get more.

“I shouldn’t have given you the coffee.”

He held his cup more securely in his hands. “Hands off my Joe, buddy.”

“Look, this has gone on long enough,” Canada tried to reason with him. He has been doing that for a while now with little effect. “I normally don’t care when you go on a wild goose chase–”

“It’s not a wild goose chase!” America protested wearily. How can he even say that? Sure it didn’t end up in a time-travel research like he’d hoped, but he’d struck gold with this new project, he’s sure of it!

“America, you’ve been at this for months.”

“Great discoveries don’t happen overnight,” America said flippantly, grinning widely at him.

Canada rolled his eyes.

“I don’t get why you don’t believe it! The Multiverse theory’s been there for centuries!”

“It’s _science fiction_ , America.”

“I _saw_ myself, man!”

“That could’ve been a mirror,” Canada argued.

“That was no mirror. I swear–”

“You could’ve been hallucinating.”

America huffed. “I wasn’t! Some scientists think it’s possible, and even Tony says it might be another me from another world!”

“I don’t care if some scientists say it’s possible, it’s not proven.”

“But it hasn’t been disproved,” America said triumphantly. “Besides, the only way to prove it’s true is through experimentation.”

Canada exhaled, frustrated. “I’m never winning an argument with you anyway.”

America gave him a lopsided smile. “Think about it, man. I’m building a gateway to another world! Aren’t you excited? Think of how awesome another me would be! Just think about it!”

“I’d rather not,” Canada said flatly, drinking his coffee. “And for everybody’s sake, I hope you’re wrong.”

America stuck his tongue out at him. A digital ringtone rang throughout the kitchen. “Must be Korea,” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes behind his glasses, and slamming his palm on the table. A small rod protruded from the middle of the kitchen table and shot out a beam of light. A hologram of United Korea, looking similarly unrested appeared on one of the chairs on his kitchen table.

“Hey Korea,” both North American nations greeted.

“Yoboseyo,” he yawned. “Migug, I have Oseutoleilia on the other line.”

“Patch him through,” America yawned too.

Australia’s tired-looking hologram appeared on one of his unoccupied chairs. “Evening, mates.”

“Hello, Oz,” the two greeted.

“We were talking about the project,” Korea explained, rubbing at his eyes. “I’ve been having trouble with the wormhole detector module. It won’t even start.”

“Huh?”

“He’s not getting a reading,” Australia supplied, resting his eyes. “Even with your equipment and calibration. How ‘bout you?”

“Mine’s okay,” America said, resting his chin on the table. “But I’ve been toying more with blueprints than the machines.” He yawned. “Can’t have ol’ Russki seeing my operations.” He asked the man to join his research team, but he rejected the idea immediately and told America it was nothing but a child’s fantasy. Well, if it’s a child’s fantasy, why was he spying on his research then, huh? He would have asked other European guys too but with the World Cup coming up in Japan, everybody was gonna be bananas for a while.

“Weird,” Australia yawned.

“It’s like it works better where you are than in my lab,” Korea mumbled.

“What’s in the US and Australia that isn’t in United Korea, anyway?” Australia wondered aloud.

“I told you guys it was silly,” Canada said quietly.

America rested his chin on the palm of his hand, feeling sleep creep up on him. “'Laska has snow, I guess. And mountains and wildlife and shit.”

“We have all those,” Korea slurred, annoyed.

“Me too,” Australia said.

“We have bigger food servings,” America offered. His co-researchers didn’t laugh. “Okay, okay that was a bad joke,” he admonished. “I don’t know what else we have in common.”

“You and Oz have the Auroras too.”

“Who’s Aurora?” America asked, almost falling off his chair.

Canada sighed. “The Auroras. In your case, the Aurora Borealis. You know, that rainbow thing at night that you sometimes watch from my place?”

“Oh,” America said. And then his eyes widened. “OH.”

“What?”

He turned back to his co-researchers. “Guys, what say we have a temporary relocation in Canada?”

“ _What_?”

“Yeah sure,” his friends said in unison before their holograms disappeared.

“Wait, wait!” Canada waved at the holograms, but he was too late. They already disappeared.

“I’m turnin’ in, broski.”

“You’re not going anywhere!” Canada said loudly. Which was pretty much him yelling. “I didn’t say you could go to my place for experimentation!”

“Man, it’s perfect,” America said. “Russia won’t suspect anythi–”

“But I don’t even believe in your theory!”

“Who cares, man?” America said, laughing. “Look, the sooner I finish with my experiment, the sooner I’ll go back to DC. Then everybody wins, 'kay?”

Canada fidgeted. He didn’t like this. But knowing America, he wouldn’t give up this wild goose chase until he’s satisfied. He sighed. “Fine.”

* * *

 

Canada brushed the heavy snow away, confirming his suspicions as he looked at the metal door underneath. An underground bunker. He didn’t build it, and he doesn’t remember authorizing a bunker to be built out here in the wild, so someone obviously trespassed on his land and went ahead and built one.

He continued to brush away the snow so as to show the metal door, ignoring the howling winds of the blizzard above his head. It was high-tech, too. The door had no knobs or levers with which to open it–just a password system located on the left-side, that would’ve been completely ignored if Canada wasn’t trained to see these things. This was obviously no private citizen.

He took out his rifle and shot at the camouflaged touchscreen. If he can’t open it, at least whoever’s inside isn’t going to get out.

To his surprise, the door slid open, exposing a set of stairs going deeper down the mountain.

He clucked his tongue. The intruder was obviously kind of an idiot. He shrugged and climbed down the stairs carefully, rifle still cocked and ready to go at the first sign of the intruder. The staircase was getting progressively darker as he went farther away from the door. It didn’t matter, though, at least the door is still open.

At the foot of the stairs was a small corridor with red lighting, equally as cramped as the staircase. He continued on, still holding his rifle ready. The place was a little too quiet. Had the intruder been expecting him?

At the end of the corridor was a small room with white lighting this time. One of the walls of the room was made of glass, showing an elaborate lab beyond it. It must’ve been at least a few hectares big. Someone was hunched over in a crane, working on some kind of larger-than-life metal doughnut with a torch. Judging from the tufts of brown hair, he was almost sure who it was.

He’s glad he took his 22nd-century guns with him on this trip instead of those new weak compact ones. Canada took aim for the back of America’s head. He’d want the fucking bastard to hurt like hell. He licked his lips and shot three bullets. The bullets hit the glass and subsequently disintegrated. There wasn’t even a scratch.

The lights inside the lab turned red, calling America’s attention, who turned around. America looked back at him, seemingly noticing him, and put down his torch. He typed something on his computer, and the lights went back to sanitized white as his crane went over to the glass partition. He jumped off from the crane, took a mug from the floor, and then walked towards him, still behind the glass.

“Hey Canuckies. Didn’t expect you here.”

Canada scowled. “You _are_ kind of a fucktard,” he replied, putting down his gun. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing in my land?”

America removed his goggles and looked at him. He seemed like he hasn’t been sleeping for a while–not that that was a surprise, but he also looked a little tired. “I needed s'mere with Auroras and shit.”

“Then go to fucking Alaska, retard.”

“Can’t,” America drawled, nonchalantly. “Bear’s watchin’.”

Canada narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously. If Russia was involved, that can’t be good. He didn’t need America doing his fucked-up genetic experiments here. “The fuck does that have to do with me? Get the fuck outta my land.”

America gave him a lopsided smile. “No can do, compadre.”

Canada began loading his high-powered rifle. He doesn’t usually bring it with him, but sometimes it could come in handy.

“You can use your li'l pellet gun all you like,” America said with a chuckle. “That ain’t gon’ do shit.”

“We’ll see about that,” Canada muttered, aiming for the edge of the glass’ metal frame and shooting several rounds at it. Unfortunately for him, the frame held. _Fuck_.

America knocked his knuckles against the glass, letting Canada see just how thick it is. “This 'ere’s high quality glass, ombre. Even an a-matter bomb ain’t gon’ scratch this baby.”

Canada grit his teeth. America was definitely up to something. If he went to all that trouble to sneak in high-quality anti-blast material, he was definitely up to something big. “The fuck are you up to?”

“Now you’re talkin’,” America said with a smirk. “I’m building a gateway to another universe.” He motioned over to what looked like a giant metal donut behind him. He was working on that earlier.

_The fuck?_

“I was experimentin’ with some things and I kinda opened a wormhole for a few nanoseconds,” America explained, and then he grinned. “Saw my beautiful mug on the other side.”

Canada gave him a rueful look. “So you got yourself a fancy electric mirror,” he summarized. He knew America was retarded, but he didn’t know it went this far. “They already invented mirrors, dumbass.”

“It was another me, shithead,” America said flatly, glowering at him.

Canada scoffed. “Right. And I wear pink lace panties.”

America gave him a once-over. “You can join me if you want.”

“Fuck you.”

“Heh,” America laughed, knocking back his drink and shuddering. “You should just be my lab assistant. You ain’t goin’ nowhere anyhow 'cause I sealed you in.”

Canada narrowed his eyes at him.  _Shit._ It figures. America was paranoid, after all. He would’ve definitely done that. Regardless, he still ran to where he got in from and saw that it had indeed closed again. He reloaded his gun and shot at the door. Just like the glass’ metal frame, his bullet didn’t leave a scratch. He backed away from it and thought hard. He didn’t have enough equipment to use for escape because he meant this trip to be a simple hunt.

“I told you, you ain’t goin’ nowhere,” America’s voice drawled from somewhere. There were probably speakers everywhere.

“England’s gonna be looking for me,” he threatened. Not that England can discipline America (if he ever did) the way he did back when they were colonies, but England was sure to blab about it to the others.

America barked a laugh. “No he ain’t. Not while his buddy chum’s practicin’ 'soccer’ with 'im. If you know what I mean.”

He grit his teeth. That’s right. England was having France over for 'soccer practice’ a few months ago when Canada informed him that he was going to go hunting for a while. He probably wouldn’t notice he was missing. He’d think it was him needing his 'alone time’. _Well shit._

“You gon’ be here for a long time, Canuckies.”


	2. Chapter 2

Canada woke up with a plate of food right beside his tent. He looked at it suspiciously. Bacon, eggs and toast, how suspicious. America was sure to have drugged this. It had to be drugged. He licked his lips. He’s been here for a full night now. He has to try to get out. Obviously, bullets don’t work.

He scratched his cheek, took the plate and walked over to the window again, seeing America still hard at work with his giant metal donut.

He cleared his throat. “Hey, America.”

America perked up and looked behind him at Canada. He put down his tools, removed his goggles and started walking over to the other man, again with his cup of whatever it was. “Mornin’ Canuckies. Enjoy breakfast?”

Canada scratched his head. “Yeah, whatever, listen up. I was thinking about it…and I decided that…”

America raised a brow at him. “Decided what?”

“I’ve decided that…I want to be your…lab…assistant.”

America continued to look at him like an idiot, nodding his head slowly. “Glad yer finally on board…”

Canada sighed in relief. His plan worked.

“…but I ain’t lookin’ for no assistant no more,” America finished, sipping from his cup and shuddering.

Canada just looked at him. “ _What_?”

“Yeah,” America said, scratching the back of his head.

“You gotta be kidding me.”

“I just thought that you’re some kinda potential hazard. No offense, Canuckies.”

Canada forced a smile. “I’m already out of bullets, America.”

“Yeeeeaaaaaahhhhh,” America drawled, looking into his mug. “But you did snap my neck with your bare hands once before…” he laughed. “Just can’t, yanno?”

Canada dropped all his pretenses. “Let me out, you fucking retard.”

“Can’t,” America said, grinning at him. “If I let ya out yer gon’ tell the bear.”

“I _won’t_ ,” he said, eye twitching.

“Still no, Canuckies,” America said, faking a disappointed look at him, as though there’s nothing he can do about it. “You’re just gon’ have to deal with it.” He shrugged and then pointed at the plate Canada was holding. “And eat yer breakfast, it’s prolly cold by now.”

Canada looked at the plate for a few moments and then threw it at America. Unfortunately, the glass with the anti-matter field separating them incinerated the projectile just as it did with his bullets.

“Whoa, somebody’s got their panties in a bunch.”

Canada just gave him the finger and stomped off back to his tent.

“Real mature there, Canuckies! No wonder you were the favorite!”

He’s glad he kept some bullets left. He’ll make sure to carve a bloody maple leaf on America’s chest once he gets his hands on him.

* * *

“I can’t believe you built a bunker.”

“Yep. I just felt it was more _organic_ , ya know?” Not that there was anything at all organic about the bunker. It was made of mostly metal, after all.

Australia looked up at Canada to offer an apologetic smile as he unpacked large coils of optic fibre. He felt sorry for him, honestly, for getting roped into this thing when he clearly had no interest in it in the first place. Trust America to be very persuasive.

“You said this was a temporary relocation.”

“Yeah, it totally is.”

“This bunker doesn’t look temporary to me! It looks pretty permanent!”

“Naw, man it’s–”

“How many tons of titanium and ambiplex did you have shipped here?”

“Around 20 each, I think. Probably more–-”

“Why did I trust you?” Canada mumbled into his hands, looking around the bunker with wide eyes. “Oh  _god_ , why did I trust you?”

“Hey, it’s gonna be awesome, you’ll se–-”

“This is _insane_!” Canada said, hands in his hair. “How am I gonna explain this to my boss when she finds out?”

“She’s not gonna find out,” America said, unpacking his hologram projectors. “‘Cause you’re not telling her. Besides, we’re only gonna be here for a short time.”

“How short?”

“I’m not really sure. If these two followed my schematics flawlessly, then we’d probably be here for a month max.”

“We followed it perfectly,” Korea yelled from the other room.

“You built a heavy-duty bunker–”

“ _Super mega_ heavy duty,” America corrected him, unaware that he was making Canada even more nervous.

“What do you even _need_ that for–”

“Aigoo, Kaenada, out of the way, this is heavy.”

Canada jumped out of the way as Korea walked over with a big crate in his hands, covering more than his torso.

“Do you need help with that?” Canada asked, out of habitual politeness.

“No, I’m okay,” Korea said, trudging on with the heavy crate. “It would’ve been easier to bring it here if there wasn’t only _one small doorway_.” When America had built the bunker, he made sure there was only one doorway that goes out to the anti-blast area and into the cottage in front, but he forgot to put the heavy mobile equipment in first so now they have to put them into the new lab one by one by hand.

“Hey, if some kinda monster weapon gets in through that wormhole we’re opening, you’re gonna thank me.”

“ _What_?”

“Wouldn’t it make more sense to open a smaller wormhole, mate?”

“Oz, don’t over-complicate things.”

“Are you guys serious? You’re going to bring in monster weapons from another dimension into my land?”

“It was a hypothetical scenario, broski. Relax.”

“How could you tell me to relax when there’s a possibility of that happening?”

“There’s like a one in a billion chance that’d happen, and besides, if that happens, I made this bunker strong enough to even hold an a-matter bomb in it. Don’t worry so much.”

“That makes me feel _so much better_ ,” Canada said sarcastically. It was clear that he was only a few steps from a breakdown.

“Good,” America said, completely missing it. “Could you scoot on over there away from the door?”

He had to try to placate Canada. “I don’t see what the problem is, mate. I mean, you don’t even believe it’s going to work, right?”

Canada rubbed at his upper arm. “Well, I guess you’re right, Oz.”

“What? You still don’t believe it?”

Australia laughed uneasily. “America, let it go–”

But he was too late, America had already locked Canada’s neck in his arm. “Let me explain it to you, broski. You already know about wormholes, right?”

“Yes,” Canada said, trying to get America’s arm off his shoulder.

“Right. So you know that they appear naturally at random locations at any given time and the disappear just as quickly. The problem with that is that they’re difficult to detect. At first I was thinking of something to attract it and maybe contain it, but that’s just plain stupid, right?”

“You got that right, Migug.”

“Nobody asked, Korea,” America yelled to the door leading to the cottage, making Canada grimace. “So, anyway, I then thought, why not make my own? A synthetic wormhole would be easier to manage and it’s way more realistic too. At least we won’t be wasting half as much time as the original idea.”

“But it’s harder to actually make one too,” Australia said, nodding, at least as a comfort to Canada.

“Look,” Canada said, scrubbing his face. “Let’s say I believe you guys and this happens. Aren’t your bosses going to flip when they find out that you guys are missing?”

“I’m on vacation, mate,” Australia quipped with a shrug, going outside to take another box in.

“Noona’s handling all my work right now, so it’s okay.”

Australia got up to the cottage on top of the huge bunker and took the first box he saw. He got on his haunches, grabbed it on both sides and tried to lift, but it was a little too heavy. He exhaled and heaved the box, feeling a strain in his joints as he lifted it, whatever it was (he can’t read the label because it was in Korean) and started to wobble his way back to the bunker’s entrance.

“…I’m in way over my head here and you’re just telling me that your boss is gonna accept it because he’s a science guy too?”

“ _Dude_ , don’t over think. Seriously–”

“What if he forms an inquiry? What if he–”

“Canada, I’m telling you, Steve is totally cool with me doing this, okay? Just chill.”

Australia grunted as he wobbled, seeing the North American squabble again. It was a normal thing. America wasn’t exactly a procedures guy anyway. Still, he was too tired to deal with this right now.

“I am not going to stay chill! You could’ve at least asked for permission before coming up here! I’m still on the radar because of your little unauthorised liquid pyrotechnic–-”

“A little help, mate?” Australia grunted, feeling his fingers slip a little.

“Oh sorry, Oz,” Canada said, completely forgetting his rant to help Australia carry the box inside.

“Aye, thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. Where do you want this?” Canada asked, carefully walking backwards so as not to step on anything.

“Omonaa! Guys! Why did you bring my CD collection down here?” Korea asked, marching towards them.

Australia’s eye twitched. “What?”

“That was supposed to go in my room! I don’t want it to get damaged out here.”

“Why did you bring your CD collection?” Canada asked, not letting go of the box. “Isn’t that half a millennia old or something?”

“So? I need music to work.”

“You could’ve just used a petabyte memory stick like a normal person,” Australia mumbled.

“Hey!” Korea protested pointing at him. “Classics should be played with classic CDs. How do you expect me to listen to Gangnam style with an 'enhanced’ file?”

“All right,” Australia said, handing his end of the box to Korea. He really didn’t care. “ _You_ take it to your room.”

“Gladly,” Korea said, haughty. “Let’s go Kaenada.”

“O-Okay.”

As soon as they were out of the room, America sidled up to him. “Hey, thanks, Oz.”

“I’m not covering your arse next time,” Australia said, wagging a finger at him. “If we’re gonna rope Canada into this, you gotta get proper permission, all right?”

America pouted at him, his shoulders falling. “Yeah, all right.”

Australia nodded at him, still catching his breath.

“I’ve got a good feeling about this. You know, I even brought old wormhole research stuff. Classic Stephen Hawking.”

“Oh, that’s great! Is Russia still on our tail?”

“Naw,” America said, waving his hand. “I had it marked as a discontinued project and said we lacked funding.”

“Are you sure that’s gonna work?”

“Positive. I had it done a few weeks ago, and I even put it under top secret so I’m sure he’s dug through it by now.”

Australia quirked a brow at him. “Doesn’t it disturb you that he has access to your top secret documents?”

America shook his head and patted Australia on the shoulder. “Don’t underestimate me, man.” Then he clapped his hands together. “Let’s get back to work then?”

Australia sighed and walked back up to the cottage. It was going to be a long day.


	3. Chapter 3

“Oppan gang-namseutayil,” Korea sang, listening to his retro cd-player and dancing that really quirky 21st century dance he used to dance. It would’ve been less weird-looking if they could hear what he was listening to. “Kang-namseutayil!”

Australia slapped his shoulder several times, in an effort to comfort him, but America didn’t stir. He didn’t even move his head from where it was lying sideways on Canada’s kitchen table. He wasn’t feeling all that well. How could he? The experiment had failed. They had to shut it down and continue with their lives. They’d already packed their personal stuff and decided to just dismantle the equipment later on.

“Don’t beat yourself up about it, mate,” Australia said, still slapping his now sort-of-tender shoulder. “We had fun didn’t we?”

“I guess,” America said, not at all feeling the fun.

“Naje-neun ttasaroun inkanjeo-gin yeoja! Keopi hanjanye yeoyureuraneun pumkyeok i-nneun yeoja!” Korea sang, doing that dance that looked like he was being electrocuted. “Bami omyeon shimjangi tteugeowojineun yeoja! Keureon banjeon i-nneun yeoja!”

“See? Korea’s takin’ it really well,” Australia said, now rubbing roughly at his abused shoulder.

“Yeah,” America muttered. He wished he took failure so well too.

Korea strutted around the room, not aware of their conversation. “Naneun sana-i! Naje-neun neomankeum ttasaroun geureon sana-i! Keopi shikgido jeone wonsyas ttaerineun sana-i! Bami omyeon shimjangi teojyeobeorineun sana-i keureon sana-i!”

“For the record, I thought we had a breakthrough.”

“Yeah, but not enough to actually break through _anything_.” He knew Australia was trying to comfort him, but it just wasn’t working.

“Now don’t say that, mate.”

“Areumdawo sarangseureowo! Keurae neo hey! keurae baro neo hey!”

“It’s true, though,” America sighed again. They were so close too. He can’t believe he overlooked something so fundamental. It was the most basic principle of dimensional travel in science fiction: there had to be _two_ doors. One in his world and another in his destination. What were the chances of another person making a simulator just like him in a different dimension at the exact same place at the exact same time? Close to nil. Maybe if Russia were here he’d have pointed it out when he was still designing the machines.

“We made a working synthesizer, right? That’s something.”

“We don’t even know if it actually works. We couldn’t test it.” The synthesizer was never able to open a wormhole. Whether it was a technical problem or because there was no other wormhole, they’ll probably never know.

“Well, yes, that’s true.”

“Areumdawo sarangseureowo! Keurae neo hey keurae baro neo hey!”

“Wow, he’s really into it,” Australia commented, watching their co-researcher dance.

“Yeah,” America sighed, just watching Korea dance.

“Chigeumbu-teo kal dekkaji kabol-kka!”

They heard the front door open and close.

“Canada’s here,” Australia said, clapping his hands together.

“Yeah.”

“Oppan gang-namseutayil!”

“Hey guys, are you ready?” Canada asked, walking into the room and looking at all of them.

“Yep,” Australia said, picking up his bags.

Korea nodded, still dancing.

“Right,” Canada said, smiling at them. “America?”

America sighed. He didn’t really feel like going back to DC just yet. “D'you mind if I stay here for a little longer?”

Canada’s shoulders sagged, but he was still smiling, albeit pitifully. “Sure thing, America. I’ll just bring these two to the stations.”

Australia walked over to him and gave him a hearty hug. America rubbed his back. He must’ve been disappointed too, but he just wasn’t showing it. Australia stepped back, and this time, Korea hugged him, hand slapping at the spine on his upper back.

“Stay awesome, Migug.”

“You know I will, buddy,” America said, rubbing his back as well. 

Korea straightened up, saluted to him, and went with the others out of the kitchen. America sank back onto the kitchen table and heard the front door slide shut. He sighed again.

* * *

A small almost negligible thump woke Canada up form his sleep. He blinked, looking around in his tent. It was weird. The bunker was usually eerily silent. There were hardly any vibrations. He wrenched his sleeping bag off of him, crawled out of his tent and peeked through the window.

It was oddly considerate of him to have shut off his speakers while going on his rampage. America was throwing things around, smashing stuff against the walls.

It was either he was going crazy or his experiment failed.

America screamed what looked to be something along the lines of ‘fucking fuck’ as he threw one of his tables against his crane, making it spark where it got hit. He then proceeded to kick his cup away.

 _He probably failed_. Canada smirked. _Serves the fucker right_. He briefly debated whether it was worth watching America tear up his lab. He has, after all, seen this guy go on his attention-grabbing tantrums a couple of times.

 _Nope_. If there was sound, he might’ve stayed and watched. He shrugged his shoulders and ducked back into his tent.


	4. Chapter 4

America looked at the damage he’d caused from losing his temper, sitting on the floor amongst broken glass and many other things.

He closed his eyes and sighed. It can’t be over just like this. It just can’t. He did everything perfectly. He followed theories to the letter and even stole some data from other countries. _It can’t just end like this_. He gripped at his sleeve. He could hear them again, laughing at him and blaming him for everything. He gnashed his teeth. _No. This ain’t gonna be another Iran. It can’t be._

There had to be something he can do. He didn’t go this far just to fail miserably. He can’t fail just because nobody else on the other side is doing the same experiment. He exhaled, frustrated. Surely–surely the other self he saw in that wormhole was smart enough to have attempted it too? The probabilities are small, but surely at some point he should be able to have some sort of communication?

 _Maybe one last test_. America stood up and walked across the shrapnel and broken glass to his controls. _One last test._

He typed a short computer code on the command box and the machine instantly started revving up. He stepped back and watched. He would have done this in his safe area, but he was keeping Canada prisoner there. Whatever it was on the other side, he’ll have to face it himself.

He took a glance at Canada in his safe area. The douchebag had set up his dumb tent so he can’t see what was on the inside. He couldn’t have been contacting the outside world; America had made sure that no signal could penetrate his walls.

He sighed and looked back at his machine. It hardly had any dents from when he threw stuff at it. He had made it pretty much indestructible. He bit his lip as the crazy idea came to him. His hand shook as he reached for the controls again and began typing to overrride the first code. Warnings kept popping up as he continued to type but he ignored them.

This could cause a great explosion. _Heh. I’m all ‘bout great explosions._

It’s not like Canada would be affected. He was behind the anti-blast material after all. At best, it could tear open a wormhole by force and defy the laws of physics. At its worst, well, quantum physical laws will pass their verdict on him, and probably every other asshole who ever ostracized him.

“ _Stabilizer deactivated,_ ” his computer warned.

Power started to surge into the machine. America finalized his code to override the emergency commands he’d set up earlier before he stopped typing and took a few steps away from the controls.

_And now we wait._

* * *

 

America just stared at his synthesizer from behind the anti-blast panel, drinking coffee. He hasn’t had the lab dismantled yet.

A hand rubbed at his shoulder. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” America sighed. “I’m just…disappointed, you know? We were so close.”

Canada patted him gently. “Yeah, that happens sometimes. You had fun though, right?”

“That’s exactly what Oz said.”

“Oh.”

“But it’s true. It was fun. I got to see Korea dancing that dorky dance of his while he was synchronising the machines. You won’t believe how many classics he has in that box. He had Korean versions of some of my oldies.”

“Yeah…he uh…he was dancing the whole way to the stations.”

“Crazy bastard,” America laughed, taking a sip of his coffee. “But if you’re thinking weird, I’d say it was Oz.”

“Oh?”

“You know there was a tiny spider down here that Korea almost crushed when he was going to sit down and Oz pushed him outta the way like a maniac. He gave us a three-hour lecture afterwards.”

Canada whistled. “He’s always been like that.”

“Freaky, actually, I mean, how’d he even see that little thing? We had hardly any sleep the night before.”

“Maybe he can sense them.”

“What, like a spidy-sense? Retro.”

Canada laughed, and they stayed in companionable silence for a few moments, before he squeezed his shoulder.

“Hey, I never really saw it in action.”

He sipped his coffee. “Saw what?”

“That…uh…giant cheese grater thing.”

“ _Excuse you_ ,” America said, turning around to look at Canada. “That is my wormhole synthesizer.”

“Oh. Sorry,” Canada said, shrugging. “I never got to see it until now.”

“What? Are you kidding me? I coulda sworn I showed it to you a few days ago!”

“Are you sure it was me? Are you sure it wasn’t _nobody at all_?”

“Don’t do that, man,” America said, scowling at him. “That is totally uncool. You know I notice you, right?”

Canada laughed. “Sorry. Yeah. Yeah you do.”

America stood up and went to his controls. “Anyway, yeah, so you wanna see it?”

“Yes. Of course,” Canada said, walking up behind him and looking over his shoulder.

America rubbed his palms together and then turned the energy output on first. The synthesizer started to glow.

“Wow. Hey, it looks pretty.”

“It’s better than that.” America carefully turned the knob for the cylinder speed.

“Oh. It spins?”

“Yes. I need to collide a bunch of atoms to make it work. See, the force of the colliding atoms at the speed of light will–”

“Is it supposed to shake like that?”

America turned his attention away from the controls and looked up at his machine. It was vibrating, almost as bad as a tuning fork. In fact, it made the ground vibrate a little. That was weird. “That…never happened before.”

“Is that bad?”

America looked back at his controls. “I don’t…know.” He flipped on the stabilizer switch and watched. The light flickered a little but the machine went back to its strange behavior. What was happening, exactly?

The light on the machine turned orange. _Weird_. This never happened in the test runs.

“Turn it off,” Canada quietly said from his side.

“Don’t be stupid. We’re having a breakthrough, I think.”

“You _think_?” Canada was starting to panic.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s acting strange. This is the first time this has happened from all our tests. Maybe someone’s trying to visit us here too.”

Canada set down his cup. “All right, I’m shutting it down.”

“What? _No_!” America tackled Canada to the ground before he could even do something with the controls.

“America, get off of me!” Canada shouted, trying to wriggle his wrists away from his grip.

“Dude, this is scientific breakthrough! You can’t just pull the plug on it!”

“I don’t like this, America! Shut it off!”

“Canada, come on! Let me have this! This is what I’ve been studying for!”

The other scowled at him. “I’m not endangering the world because you want to learn something!”

“But Cana–”

There was a loud explosion, the anti-blast material gave way from the force and swept both nations away.

Everything went dark.


	5. Chapter 5

England tightened his grip around France’s neck as the man thrust into him. “F-Fra–ah!”

France sucked on his collarbone, not at all slowing his pace.

England bit his lip to swallow his cries. After all, they were… _canoodling_ …in the nearest empty locker room…a-against the lockers. Which had already warmed against his back a-after they. _Hmmmm._

France just couldn’t wait to claim his prize at their hotel room. France had bet that he would make it to the World Cup finals. England didn’t want to bet against him, but then it wouldn’t be a bet anymore, would it?

France heaved him higher and his mouth moved to his adam’s apple, making England mewl loudly. He hooked his heels around his lover’s back and hands scrambling on his shoulders for purchase.

“R-Right there– _please_!”

France angled his hips and thrust hard, hitting England’s prostate head-on. England cried out and moved his hips in sync with him. _So close. So close._

“How did you two bypass and tamper with my biometric scanner?”

England’s eyes flew open in surprise. Russia was standing a few yards away from them, looking unimpressed. He buried his face into France’s shoulder, feeling his face boil up. He slapped France’s shoulder blade several times until the other man stopped moving.

“Angleterre…? Wha…?”

“Russia’s here,” England whispered to him, forehead still to his shoulder. Oh gosh. It was a good thing they kept most of their clothes on.

“What?”

“He’s looking at us.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” France growled and then twisted his head to look at the intruder. France’s clutch on his buttocks tightened. “Russie, get out.”

“I need to speak with Angliya. And my team needs their locker room.”

“ _Get. Out_.” France is definitely angry now. It was a surprise that he hasn’t started swearing yet, but maybe that was because he knew England would be put off by swearing. Still, the control was impressive.

Russia sighed. “Angliya, I need to talk to you in private later. Without Frantsiya.”

“O-Okay,” England squeaked, not removing his head from France’s shoulder.

“Goodie,” France mumbled.

“I will give you ten minutes. Please clean up after you are done.”

He heard the door slide open and then shut close.

France began moving again. England clawed at his back in surprise as he felt him moving inside him again, soon getting back to their previous pace.

France’s hand snaked in between their bodies and began pumping him roughly.

“Ah! F-France! France! I–”

France caught his lips and kissed him harshly, smothering his cries, his thrusts getting more erratic. He wasn’t that far off either.

His lover’s wrist twisted to a new angle, his thumb gently circling on the slit at the head of his cock and that was it.

England saw white flashing before his eyes as he came, throwing his head back and hitting it against the lockers. The pain in his head didn’t dull the sensation at all. He heard France grunting too, finishing right after him before they began to sink on the floor.

England panted, arms still around France as they both revelled in their afterglow. “We–We should clean up, poppet,” he muttered, feeling warm, content and maybe a little lazy. And sticky.

France nodded, lifted his head and pecked him on the lips.

* * *

England waited at Oxford street, tapping his foot impatiently. It figures the fucking frog would be late. You’d think it would kill him to be on time. But no. He wouldn’t. Especially not now when he has won a place at the World Cup finals and flew back to London from Kyoto especially just to gloat in his face. He wished that at least once the pompous fop would come on time for a date. _Just once._

He sighed. That was never going to happen. Telling France off about it would only serve to make France take longer in his beauty rituals.

Suddenly, the earth started to shake. England’s eyes widened as the ground shook below him hard, causing him to lose his balance and fall on his elbow to the ground. He hissed in pain, the ground continuing to quiver. _Is somebody attacking me? I have to get the citizens out of here._  Although it didn’t feel like an attack, it felt more like an earthquake. Is it an earthquake? He rarely has earthquakes.

“Mister, are you okay?”

England opened his eyes and saw a young teenager peering curiously at him. How could the young man just look at him like that as the ground shook?

“Don’t worry about me, run!” England yelled at the boy.

“What?” the boy asked, not at all running.

“What are you waiting for? The buildings might collapse at any minute!”

The whispers that erupted alerted him of the people surrounding him.

“ _Arthur_!” a familiar voice called at him. The ground stopped shaking.

France’s face came into view, looking a little worried. “Arthur, are you all right?”

He held on to France’s forearm and breathed frantically. “I’m all right. Is everyone else fine?”

The frog looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

England sat up and looked around at the people surrounding him and the buildings and vehicles nearby. It was like nothing happened. “B-But–there was an earthquake…”

“A what?” France rubbed his arms. “Are you feeling all right?”

England slapped his hands away. “I’m fine! There was an earthquake!”

His citizens started to whisper a little louder this time amongst themselves, almost resembling a beehive.

France cleared his throat. “Alors, tout le monde!” he called out to the people around them. “Nothing to see here! I will make sure to get this man to a Medipod. Nothing to worry about!” Then he hoisted England to his feet.

“I don’t need a fucking Medipod,” England growled at him, but was at the same time glad to be led away from the scene.

“I know, it was just an excuse,” France whispered back. “Are you sure you’re all right, mon coeur?”

“I’m _fine_. The earthquake knocked me off my balance, that’s all.”

“Angleterre…there was no earthquake.”

England stopped and looked at France. “What are you talking about?! There was an earth–”

A soft ring resounded in his ear, signalling his phone. England pushed the button to receive the call.

“England?” Norway’s voice crackled to life in his ear.

“Norway? Wha–”

“Did you feel it?”

England furrowed his brows. “Yes, I felt it. How did you–”

“Nobody else here felt it but me,” Norway said, voice urgent.

“What?”

“The Auroras suddenly disappeared. Something bad is happening.”

England turned away from France’s questioning look. “What do you mean disappeared?”

“They’re gone. They just flickered and disappeared. I’m going to meet with the Seelie Court right now. I will meet the rest of you in a conference later tonight.”

“What? I’m coming with y–”

The plug was wrenched out of his ear all of a sudden. He turned around and saw France fitting it into his own ear.

“Bonsoir, Norvege, I’m afraid Angleterre is indisposed at the moment. He is feeling very sick and imagining earthquakes, the poor thing. Probably deprived too long of my magnificent presence.”

England tried to make a grab for it, but France kept him away at arm’s length. “Give it back, frog!”

“Hmmmm? I think so too. Oui, I shall tell him. Oh! You’ve heard! Merci!” France pushed the button and ended the call.

“Give it back!” England growled, stepping back, now that the call has been ended.

“Norvege offered me his congratulations and has instructed that we enjoy our dinner. He will contact you later tonight at your house.”

England just glared at him. “That was an important call.”

“Well if it were, Norvege would have insisted on talking to you, non?”

“It’s because you took my phone!”

“He wouldn’t have said to keep you out of his hair either.”

England gnashed his teeth. It figures. Norway was more of a solo flyer.

“Now then, I think someone’s hungry enough to hallucinate, hmmmm? Should we get some Vietnamese? Then you can worship me all you want.”

England just scowled he didn’t hallucinate, but he can’t exactly tell France about what could’ve happened. “If you didn’t take so damn long, I wouldn’t be so hungry!”

France trotted towards him, wrapped his arms around his neck and pecked him on the lips. “I’m sorry, mon coeur. It takes effort to be this beautiful, you know! Especially since Heathrow has such terrible bathrooms.”

England just rolled his eyes and France pecked him on the cheek. “And maybe later we’ll have a little romp back in your house?”

England flushed and pushed him away. “We’re in public, you dunce!”

France only laughed and kissed him more, before taking his hand and dragging him to another one of those chic Vietnamese restaurants.


	6. Chapter 6

Russia waited as all of them settled onto their seats, the others almost leering at a blushing England. Most probably because he told them about the locker room incident. Well, luckily for him, there were only five of them in the room right now: Russia, Japan, Norway, Romania and England.

England raised his hand. “W-Why aren’t the others here?”

“Most of them already went home,” Russia explained, scratching his jaw. “I have gathered the most I could, and to be honest, I think our number is enough.”

“Unless of course, you want _Frankrike_ to join us,” Norway teased. England blushed deep red.

“Noruue,” Japan reprimanded him, although there was no bite in his voice.

“Just get on with it already,” Romania snapped.

“I have a confession to make,” Russia said, sitting down on his chair. “I have been spying on Amerika for quite some time now.”

The others looked at him, surprised.

“Oy, _Roshia_ ,” Japan started, brows knitted together in a scowl.

Russia held his hand up at him. “I think this has something to do with the disturbance.”

“Didn’t you promise not to spy on him anymore?” Norway asked, leaning forward on the table.

“What disturbance?” England asked.

This time, the others looked at England.

“You mean you didn’t feel it?” Japan asked.

“Feel what?”

“The disturbance in the air earlier,” Romania muttered. “It was almost like a magnitude 12 earthquake–”

“Magnitude 9,” Japan corrected him.

“He was at the locker room that time with Frantsiya,” Russia answered flatly.

“Wha–” England turned bright red.

Norway gasped and leaned towards England. “Is Frankrike really that good? I mean, I’ve heard stories but–”

“Ugh, no wonder he got Germania to stay in a three-way for that long,” Romania muttered.

“Whoa, I thought that was a myth,” Norway chirped.

“It seemed true. Maybe it is.”

“ _Oy_ , we’re not here to discuss Igirisu’s–”

“Still, if that’s true and he was able to house-train Frankrike into monogamy, wouldn’t that make England the better lay? What do you think, Russland?”

Romania’s brows knitted in thought. “Now that you say that…”

“Oh, look, his freckles disappeared,” Norway said, poking an unmoving England’s bright red cheek, curious.

“I think we broke him.”

“Oy! Yarodomo! Pay attention!” Japan shouted at them, banging his open palms on the table.

Russia sighed. “To answer your question, yes, Frantsiya is better than most,” he said gruffly. “Anyway, like I was saying, Amerika has been up to some experimentation again.”

“When is he not?” Romania quipped.

“This one is different. He is not mutating animals for the past months. He has been trying to build a wormhole simulator. At least that is the intelligence I gathered.”

“What does he need that for?” Japan asked.

“I am not sure,” Russia said quietly. “But he has been keeping it under wraps, even more so than his weapons upgrade program.”

“Do you think he’s planning another war?” Norway asked, much too chipper for the conversation topic.

“No. I think he is focusing on opening a wormhole.”

“A wormhole to where?” Japan asked, pointing the conversation to where he wanted it to go.

“I have been in contact with another Rossiya,” Russia explained, putting his hands together. “He told me and the other Rossiyas two years ago that the Amerika from his world has asked him to join a research concerning the multiverse theory. Naturally, that other Rossiya declined, but kept surveillance.”

“Is that how you know what he was up to?” England asked, finally snapping out of it. “He never told me anything.”

“Da,” Russia answered. “It was a useful tip. We both decided to keep an eye on Amerika, but up until a few months ago, the project was supposed to have been shut down and marked inconclusive.”

“ _Supposed_?”

“Da, Yaponiya. I think Amerika noticed my surveillance and staged a fake shut down. It was after a few weeks of nonactivity that I decided to lift the watch.”

“Typical Amerika,” Japan scoffed. “Where was the project taking place?”

“In Alaska.”

He saw England already pushing the button on his earphone, probably trying to ring up America. “It’s no use, Angliya,” he said. “I’ve been trying to call him, but he doesn’t answer.”

“He’ll answer for me, I’m sure,” England said, concern etched in his face as he waited for America to pick up.

“Do you think he was successful in opening a wormhole?” Norway asked.

“I cannot say for sure,” Russia answered. “It is safe to assume that he has. That is our only lead.”

“What happens if he has?”

“He is an _(f) class gate_ ,” Romania answered. “They’ve never been known to reopen. He most likely failed, like all his predecessors.”

Norway scratched his chin. “On paper, that’s true. But there have been rumours for centuries that the Unseelie have found a way to reopen (e) gates. It is said to be by black magic, not by synthetic means like technology.”

“The Unseelie will create any rumour to cause chaos within the Seelie court,” Romania grumbled.

“I don’t think a synthetic gate is too far off,” Japan argued. “The question is whether it’s as stable as the ones we have.”

Romania scoffed. “Don’t be stupid.”

“He’s not answering,” England said, voice cracking, looking much too worried. “What if something happened to him?”

“It is best not to jump to conclusions. Amerika is a strong man,” Russia said. “I have already sent word to my people stationed in Amerika. I should have updates by midnight.”

“ _Anglia_ ,” Romania snarled. “Tell these idiots that (f) gates can’t be reopened.”

England looked distraught. “I don’t…” he inhaled and looked at Russia.

“Rumyniya, this is not the time to harass Angliya about theories. Regardless of whether it is true or not, we have to find out the situation first.”

Norway crossed his arms. “But what if Amerika did reopen his gate by accident?”

“If he went to the other world, then we will have to go there and retrieve him.”

“ _We_?”

“We are weaker in the other worlds. It is best to go there as a four-man cell.”

“Then I’m not going,” Romania snapped. “This is stupid. I’m sure Amerika is just back in Washington, stuffing his face with treated food like he usually does.”

“Fine by us,” Japan smirked at him.

“You are going, Rumyniya,” Russia barked. “You are the only one in the group with a (b) status. Yaponiya is staying here.”

“Nan’ da to?” Japan snapped, grabbing Russia’s collar and pulling him down to face him.

“You are a (d) status,” Russia answered him. “You will just weigh us down.”

“Don’t underestimate me,” Japan snarled at him, angry.

His brows creased. He would never underestimate Japan, not after he helped Russia in his second revolution in the 21st century. “You may have a strong navy here, but we are not bringing that to the other world. The Seelie court will not stand for it.”

“U-Uhm…we can just go, all five of us?” England quipped.

“Nyet,” Russia answered, not taking his eyes off Japan’s. “We need someone to stationed here in case something else happens.”

“I’m better at offense than defense.”

“That does not matter. Magic is needed here.”

“I can bring artifacts! I’m a better fighter than any of these hacks. Do you expect Igirisu to just throw vials of potions at the fairies and they’ll just magically disappear?”

“Hey!” England protested softly.

“You are a brilliant fighter, Yaponiya, but you cannot perform magic as well anymore. And that is what we need. I do not wish to have to drag your corpse back here.”

“Aren’t they just so sweet to each other?” Norway chirped.

Japan turned red and immediately let go of the other’s collar.

Russia straightened up and looked at Norway, unimpressed. “You are aware that that is not the reason.”

England laughed uneasily. “Yes. It’s not like they’re together, dear…”

“D-Do whatever you want,” Japan stammered, not looking at any of them.

Norway just giggled.

“Then it is settled,” Russia said, fixing his collar. “Should it be the worst case scenario, Yaponiya will stay and assemble the other members of the group to deal with the problems here. Angliya, you must contact your counterpart to ask for feedback. The other Rossiya says that he is still reasonably close to Amerika.”

“W-Which England are we talking about here?”

Russia crossed his arms on his chest. What was that other England like again? The other Russia had briefed him about it before. “It is that grumpy terrible dresser with the inedible cooking.”

England was as white as sheet.

Russia cocked a brow at him. “What is wrong? Do not tell me you are at odds with him?”

England opened his mouth and then closed it again. “No I…t-the Seelie Court has banned me from…from…using the other gates…aside from the other England’s…”

Norway blinked at England. “Why? What happened?”

“N-Nothing!”

“This does not have anything to do with the 17th century, does it?”

England looked down and just shook his head. “I–I would rather not talk about it.”

Russia sighed, tired. “Fine. Just contact that Angliya. If Amerika really has succeeded and we would need to go to their world, you and Norvegiya will use your gate. In the meantime, wait for my update before making any further moves.”

England nodded. Somehow, he was acting suspiciously. He’d better get some answers from Vasya.


	7. Chapter 7

England took a peek at France beside him on the bed. His lover was sleeping peacefully, but that might’ve been because he slipped a drop of sleeping potion in his pot of Japanese chamomile tea. He had been doing it for some time now, and France was a lot less grumpy when he had adequate sleep.

He would have kissed his sleeping face, but he had something he needed to do. As cautiously as he could, he sneaked out of their hotel bed, making sure not to jostle it so much so as not to wake his bedmate.

France remained asleep. England tiptoed towards the balcony door, pressing his palm on the scanner and opening it before stepping out into the warm Kyoto air.

Flying Chocolate Bunny was waiting for him on the balcony floor. “Is the frog asleep?”

“Flying Chocolate Bunny!” England hissed as he sat down on the floor, the door closing behind him noiselessly. “I told you not to call him that!”

The fairy sighed. “Whatever. What do you want me to do?”

England handed him a small scroll tied with a ribbon. “Please bring this note to Oliver.”

Flying Chocolate Bunny looked at it, curious. “Oliver?”

He nodded. “Russia says that maybe the disturbance earlier had something to do with Oliver’s world.”

“Right,” Flying Chocolate Bunny said, taking the scroll between his paws. “What do you think happened?”

“I have no idea,” England said quietly. “But I hope Russia’s wrong. How is the Seelie Court handling it?”

“It’s pure chaos,” the fairy said. “They’re trying to find out what happened too. Apparently, it isn’t over yet. The transmissions are affected.”

“Will you be all right?”

“Don’t underestimate me, England,” Flying Chocolate Bunny said flatly. “If anything, the Seelie Court won’t be able to monitor inter-dimensional travel for a few hours.”

“I…I see.”

Flying Chocolate Bunny exhaled again. “Well then, I’m off.”

“Wait!”

“What?”

England wrung his fingers. “C-Could you check up on the other France for me?”

Flying Chocolate Bunny looked at him for a few seconds. “No.”

“Please?”

Flying Chocolate Bunny sighed exasperatedly. “I already checked on him twenty years ago.”

“I’m sure he’s staying over at Oliver’s. And you’re going there so…”

Flying Chocolate Bunny just gave him a look.

“I just want to know how my friend is doing,” England said, making puppy dog eyes at Flying Chocolate Bunny. “Please?”

The fairy groaned, rubbing his cheek with one paw, annoyed. “Fine.”

“I’ll make you those tea cakes you like so much,” England said, smiling hopefully at him.

“You’d better,” Flying Chocolate Bunny muttered, taking off into the Japanese skyline.

England sighed, content. Hopefully, Russia was wrong about what had happened. He can’t really say if it was possible to have a synthetic gate, but he hopes deep in his heart that America had failed.

“What are you doing out here?”

England froze, and then slowly turned around to see France, arms crossed and leaning on the balcony’s doorway. “F-France! W-Why are you awake?”

“The bed was cold,” France said, shrugging one shoulder. “What are you doing out here?”

“I was…thi–I mean, I was just…looking at the stars.”

France looked up at the sky. “You’re looking for stars at the starless sky from the balcony floor.”

England just smiled, lips twitching. “Y-Yes.”

France exhaled, and it was a little hard to see his face in the dark. “What did Russie want?”

England laughed uneasily. “Oh…it’s a…just…it’s just that…Russia…wanted my o-opinion on that…uh…the hydro-fission reactors…uh…things…”

“You mean the silos? The ones he’s been negotiating with me?”

 _Oops_. “Y-Yes,” he stammered, blinking at him. Why didn’t he know about a transaction like that?

France sighed and just shook his head, and then went back inside.

 _Oh no._  England stood up quickly and went back into the room with him, seeing France plop on the bed and cover himself with the duvet. _He’s definitely in a bad mood again._  Why was he never that good at lying? He approached the bed cautiously and got under the covers with him.

The air felt tense. France was facing away from him, and he didn’t really know what to make of that. Was he angry because England had lied to him? It’s not like he can tell him he was outside because he had to talk to Flying Chocolate Bunny and he can’t tell him what the emergency meeting was all about.

_It’s not like I want to keep secrets from him. I just want to keep him safe._

He looked at the back of France’s head. _I have to keep him out of this._  He sighed, and then reached out and hugged the other man from behind. He nuzzled his nose into the back of France’s neck and sneaked a kiss.

“Angleterre?”

England just hugged him tighter and peppered the back of his neck with kisses.

Suddenly, France turned around and caught his head in an embrace, lips on his in a very chaste kiss. England giggled into the kiss and hugged the other’s body to his as France pecked his lips and jaw.

“I’m sorry,” England whispered to his lips.

France stopped kissing him, and England panicked.

“France?”

France sighed and nuzzled against him. “No, you–you shouldn’t apologize.”

England embraced him a little tighter. What did he mean? Are they going to establish a secrecy rule?

“It’s just that…Russie has been giving me a hard time with the transaction and he just wouldn’t shut up about it.”

Oh. “R-Really?”

“Ouais, I mean, if he has that many doubts about it, then he shouldn’t have bought them in the first place, you know?”

“Y-Yeah…yeah. That’s absolutely right!” He can’t believe his lie got through. He’ll have to apologize to Russia tomorrow.

“It’s annoying that he has to talk to you about it. I mean, business is business.”

“I’m sure he didn’t have any bad intentions.”

“He did, don’t defend him,” France said, and then sat up. “I should give him a piece of my mind.”

“No!” England yelled, tackling France back onto the bed, and pinning his shoulders unto the mattress with his hands.

France grabbed his wrists but didn’t pry him off. “Angleterre, what are you doing?”

England cleared his throat. “It’s just that…uhm…”

The other cocked a brow at him.

England batted his eyes at him and then leaned down slowly. “You’re looking really sexy right now,” he whispered as sensually as he could in his lover’s ear.

“What are you up to?”

England nibbled at the other’s ear. “Please, darling?”

France cradled England’s face with one hand and his buttocks in the other. “How do you want to do this?”

 _Success_. England pecked his lips and raked his nails on his lover’s chest, earning a moan. “How about you tell me, cuppycake?”

* * *

Consciousness slowly trickled in. Canada opened his eyes with much difficulty, blinking into the darkness. He tried moving his arms but he felt cramped by something covered in cloth. He grunted and tried to move again, but whatever was holding him down was heavy and smelled of metallic coffee.

His eyes widened and his breath quickened as he tried to remember what had happened. He and America had been at the bunker. America was giving him a demonstration of his defunct machine. Then it started misbehaving and he and America got into an argument whether to cut the power.

There had been a blast.

Canada squeezed his arm away from whatever was locking him in place and wincing. He had a couple of broken fingers that hadn’t healed yet. He raised his hand and groped blindly in front of his face. His finger touched a nose. The skin was cold.

“America?” he whispered, breath hitching. “America, speak up.”

Silence reigned. Canada grew fearful. If the debris proved to be to heavy for him to carry, they might be stuck here for a while, especially if America happened to have died. A dead body takes more time to return to normal, and that time depended on how severe the damage to the body was. He had hoped he’d at least have America’s physical strength to get them out. _Okay, okay. Everything’s going to be fine. He’s just probably unconscious. I have to do something about this._

Canada turned to what he hoped was up and started to push with one hand. It didn’t budge. Canada turned his whole body towards the direction he had been pushing against, feeling his ankle sting. Well, he supposed it was lucky that he only got a sprained ankle and a few broken fingers. He exhaled, placing both palms on the thankfully flat surface and pushed. The material grunted with the weight of whatever was above it. His forearms were already shaking and his fingers were screaming at him in pain before he let go of his hold.

He panted. He had to fix himself first if he was going to get them out of here. He blindly felt at his fingers, inspecting them and trying to assess the damage without actually seeing them. He’d wanted to fix his fingers with his Pearl or after he at least had some ample lighting. So many things could go wrong in regeneration with blind assessment, especially since it’s been years since he had to take care of himself in a war. He took a deep breath and twisted one finger back in its place, gnashing his teeth together at the pain. He took the next finger and did the same. He did so with two more fingers before he let his hand rest peacefully on his stomach, taking relaxing breaths. He had about an hour for regeneration. It was a good thing he was good at waiting.


	8. Chapter 8

Norway pushed the buttons, holograms of his friends popping up one after the other in the empty room. He only called © gates and above with high Seelie magic concentration, however, so as not to cause too much of a panic. Besides, handling these people himself was enough trouble as it is. And it was already two in the morning so he was too tired to look at time zones and figure out who would be awake.

“Dobryj vyechyer, Norvegiya,” Russia greeted him with the usual smile on his face. Norway just nodded at him.

“Shubh sundhyaa, Norve,” India similarly greeted although he had half his attention on his computers, as usual.

“What did you find out?” England demanded almost immediately, drowning greetings from the other participants.

“The Seelie Court is in chaos right now,” he said quietly, earning loud gossiping from the others in the room. “There has been a breach of foreign magic into our world and it has interfered with transmissions as well as regular Seelie surveillance. They have stopped the magical flow, but the extent of the contamination is still unknown.”

“Is that bad?”

“Are the Auroras back?”

“The Auroras have returned to their usual state,” Norway informed them, although it did take longer to get them back than he’d have liked. “So it might not be so bad.”

“I have something to say,” Russia said, raising his hand, gaining attention from the others in the room. “It may be because of Amerika.”

“What?” England’s voice rang out in the midst of the murmurrs.

“Amerika was experimenting with multiverse theory for some twenty months.”

“WHAT?” England yelled.

“Why didn’t you tell us about this before?” India asked at the same time, attention fully into the meeting this time.

“Why do know about this?” Romania piped up.

“Are you just making this up?” Georgia demanded. “Because that’s not funny.”.

“So what happened? Is he going to start a war?” Malaysia hyperventilated.

Norway sighed and put the rest on mute, except for Russia. He hated being the rotation representative for the nations at the Seelie Court. Why can’t this have happened during the last rotation seventeen years ago? Egypt would have probably handled things much better. “Russland, where did you get this information?”

“Amerika approached me for partnership in the project. I refused. I have taken to monitoring his activities from a distance instead.”

England’s hologram was now standing up, and it was almost like he was yelling at Russia. Judging by the Russia’s undisturbed expression, he had probably already muted him out before Norway had.

“He was asking for a partnership?”

“He said that he trusted me to know the most about theoretical quantum mechanics and that is why he approached. He pushed through with the project but it was shut down on the 8th month for budgetary reasons. I had thought that was end of it.”

From the corner of his eye, he could see England’s hologram shouting at Norway too, gesturing for him to unmute him. Norway sighed, rolled his eyes and pushed the button.

“This is a serious matter!” England yelled. “Russia needs to be investigated and muting us out won’t solve–”

“I can hear you, England.”

England shut his mouth, and then exhaled angrily. “He should have told us beforehand that America was up to something!”

“England, this is not the time for blaming people–”

“We could’ve prevented this if Russia had–”

Norway put him back on mute and refocused on Russia. “Did he succeed?”

“I am not sure. Amerika tends to be more talented than initial projections would imply.”

“You should have been more careful.”

“I realise that and I apologize,” Russia said. It was difficult to say whether he’s sincere.

England’s hologram had already taken to approaching him and gesturing in front of his face so Norway unmuted him again.

“Listen to me!”

“I can hear you, England.”

England put his face on his palm, as if trying to calm himself. “All right. Did America open a portal to another world?”

“Russland thinks that he may have, but we have no proof.”

The look on England’s face was pitiful at best. “Did something happen to him?”

“We do not know for sure, but we can ask his boss.”

Russia raised his hand again. “I have learned yesterday that Amerika has planted a decoy at the white house. He is no longer in Alaska as well. We have no idea where he is.”

“What?” England turned on him. “You let America do a dangerous experiment unsupervised?”

Russia remained silent, content and smiling in his seat.

“England, he can’t hear you.”

“Tell him to shut his bloody mute off or I’ll shut it off for him!” England growled, not taking his eyes off Russia.

That doesn’t even make any sense. “England, calm down–”

“This is because you hate me, isn’t it? You still can’t accept that–”

Norway muted him again. He doesn’t really care to hear whatever it is that he’s fighting with Russia against this time. “Russland. Do you have any idea where he might have opened a portal to?”

“Da,” Russia said, answering him back, completely unperturbed at England’s hologram taking swipes at him. “Highest probability is in Vasya–Vasiliy’s world.” Russia typed something on his computer and a hologram of an image appeared in front of Norway, containing a picture of his smiling self.

 _Him_. Norway felt a chill up his spine, but kept his composure. “Have you contacted Vasiliy yet?”

“Da. We have conversed this evening. He will update me later at midnight concerning their Amerika. If Amerika has succeeded, depending on the destination point, he has already formed a four-man cell to handle matters here.”

Norway frowned. His mobile phone started ringing softly in his ear. “Norve, unmute us. _Now_ ,” India demanded calmly in his ear. He sighed and unmuted all of them, except England, who still seemed to be shouting at Russia.

“If Rusa was invited to experiment with him, maybe he invited others too,” India stated.

“Indoet'shi is right. Amerikis could have contacted someone else other than Ruset'is,” Georgia said, shrugging. “He obviously intended to have a research team.”

“True,” Norway conceded.

“Who else could he have invited with him?”

“Off the top of my head, I’d say Jepan,” Malaysia suggested.

“Nyet, he did not invite Yaponiya,” Russia corrected her. “Because of the World Cup.”

Norway looked at him, raising his brow. Russia hadn’t put them on mute?

“Well, that’s true. Who else would he have asked?”

“The most logical ones would be Sveits, Osterrike and Italia,” Norway said, crossing his amrs. “They know the most about theoretical quantum physics.”

The other agreed.

“Or Jarmani,” India added.

“He’s too busy with his moss business. I’d say Olanda is the better choice,” Romania argued. “He has been improving his robotics sector drastically.”

“Koreya is more likely in that situation,” Russia butted in. “And probably several others in the robotics race like him.”

“Like who? Avstraliashi?” Georgia raised a brow at him.

“Perhaps.”

Norway nodded, satisfied. “We have to call them as soon as possible to find out. As of the moment, we have to stay calm. Russland, please update us whenever the other Russland does something new.” Norway proceeded to unmute England.

“–because of your fucking–”

“England, the meeting is adjourned,” Norway said loudly, drowning out England’s rant effectively. “We’re going to try to contact some of the other countries Amerika might have invited other than Russland.”

England looked back at him, looking tired. “And who might those be?”

“So far we have Sveits, Osterrike, Italia, Korea…” he stopped and looked at the others for help.

India picked up for him. “Jarmani, Nidaralainda and Ostreliya too, I think.”

“What about Perancis?” Malaysia asked.

“France doesn’t have any projects with America,” England snapped.

“How can you be sure?” Georgia asked, raising a brow at him. “Let’s be honest, you’re not exactly a careful person.”

England shot him a glare. “ _France doesn’t have any projects with America_ ,” he repeated, with finality in his tone.

Norway massaged his temples. “I will contact the ones from Europe and Malaysia will contact the ones from Asia. We will update you as soon as we have news.”

“I should contact Germaniya and Italiya, Norvegiya,” Russia said quietly. “Italiya has been trying to sell to me. They will be much more open for conversation.”

Norway nodded. “Right. In the mean time, England will try to contact Amerika. Meeting adjourned.” He turned off the holograms before the others could put a word in. He exhaled, closing his eyes. The Seelie Court was going to be a pain for the next few days. Why did it have to happen during his 50-year term?


	9. Chapter 9

England sat in his easy chair and watched as the sun rose. He didn’t sleep. He couldn’t. Not when he found out that there was a possibility that America might’ve put himself in danger. He had been trying to call him all night, but he wouldn’t answer his phone. He had already tried contacting the White House, but the decoy he’d set had been there. His government didn’t even suspect a thing, and he couldn’t very well tell them that the America they were with right now was a clever impostor America had stationed there. It might as well be that way. There was no point in causing a panic, especially when he had no solid proof that America was in fact in any sort of real danger. Even if he were, England was pretty sure that America would’ve been able to fend for himself accordingly. He was a strong young nation, after all, if not foolhardy and careless.

The question lies on where he has gone to, or if not, which world did he open his doors to?

He sighed. _What am I going to do with that boy?_

After the Middle Eastern Conflict, America just never got over it. He doesn’t blame the poor boy–he had the best intentions. And maybe he was at fault too because he let America isolate himself. He had thought that for the most part, the time he gives himself might at least cure him of his messianic complex, but…

And then there was Russia. He never trusted the bloke. He probably never will, and for good reason. Keeping something as big as this should’ve already been considered highly suspect. When he gets his turn in the rotation next century, Russia can be damn sure that he’ll get the retribution he deserves.

A brown wing appeared out of nowhere in front of him, startling him out of his thoughts. The rest of Flying Chocolate Bunny materialized, and plopped down on his lap.

“Ugh,” Flying Chocolate Bunny groaned, shaking off something from his fur. “I hope this ends soon.”

England’s lips quivered as dread erupted in his chest. _It had to be Oliver_. He closed his eyes. “It’s really with your world then, I suppose?”

“Yes,” Flying Chocolate Bunny grunted, shaking his wings. “I have a message.”

England opened his eyes and a scroll appeared right in front of his face.

 

_Dearest Arthur,_

_I don’t have much time so I will make this letter short. Russia has told us that there may be a possibility that the America in your world has fashioned himself a synthetic gate to ours and vice-versa. Things are still unclear, but Russia has promised to update us as soon as he gets further information from his counterpart. He requests that you contact the other America as quickly as possible. In the meantime, Norway and I will be arriving at your world later tonight at around nine to investigate so no tourists would be left at the Stonehenge. Hopefully it’s not as Russia suggests._

_Your good friend,_

_Oliver_

 

England cocked a brow at that as the letter turned to powder spraying on his lap. “He’s coming here?” he asked the fairy.

“He is?” Flying Chocolate Bunny asked. “I don’t know. He didn’t tell me anything about their meeting.”

England bit his lip and closed his eyes. France was still here. In fact, he was sleeping in his bedroom upstairs at the moment. They can’t cross paths–not again. He has to get rid of France before Oliver comes over. He opened his eyes and looked down at the fairy. “Why are you still here?”

Flying Chocolate Bunny frowned at him. “It’s not like I want to.”

England scowled at him too, reading the fairy’s actions correctly. He’s checking on him again? Hasn’t it only been ten years? “Why? Did he and the other France have a fight?”

“I wish,” Flying Chocolate Bunny mumbled sourly. “Is he here or not?”

“He’s asleep,” England bit at him. “He’s as fine as he’ll ever be.”

Flying Chocolate Bunny just sighed. “Whatever. I’ll just go take a peek.”

England held onto his wings, keeping him on his lap. “Do you have any idea what would happen if he sees you?” he hissed.

“I do. Better than you ever would,” Flying Chocolate Bunny growled at him. “But that’s not going to happen because he has an (e) gate.”

“So what? That’s never stopped him befo–”

“Angleterre?” a bleary voice asked a few feet behind him.

In his shock, England let go of the fairy and looked at France from the doorway behind his chair. “Why are you awake?”

France yawned and walked over to him. England quickly looked at his lap and saw that the fairy was no longer there. France kissed England on the ear and whispered in a husky voice, “because I woke up to a cold bed.”

England glared at him. “It’s the middle of the fucking summer, frog.”

France rolled his eyes. “Cold is cold. Global Warming has already done a number to our weather that it would be ridiculous to peg temperature to seasons, non?”

“And yet it never snows in the sodding summer,” England growled, trying to look out for Flying Chocolate Bunny.

France sighed and slid onto his lap, making the powder there puff up in the air. “Mon dieu!” France exclaimed, arms flailing around his neck. “Why is there so much dust in here?”

“None of your bloody business,” England snarled, taking a quick scan around the room while France was distracted. “Go back to bed.”

“But it’s so cold there,” France whispered airily into his ear.

England shuddered.

“See? It is cold.”

England glared at him, hoping it was enough to make France go back upstairs.

France did no such thing. He only nuzzled against England’s neck. “What’s wrong, rosbif?”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“Yesterday, you thought there was an earthquake, then you do not sleep, and then I find you this morning whispering to yourself in different voices,” France touched his cheek and turned his head to face him. His blue eyes bore into his. “Should I be worried?”

 _Shit._ How much did he hear? “There’s nothing to worry about. I’m fine,” England answered curtly.

“You can’t possibly be cheating on me, hmmm?” France asked him playfully.

How could any of those even equate to cheating? “Don’t be an idiot,” England bit out.

“That wasn’t an answer.”

France was in a poncy mood again. “Of course I’m cheating on you, you great ponce, how could I not?” England replied sarcastically.

France chuckled. “You are a terrible liar.” He kissed him on the cheek. “To me, at least.”

England sighed, rolled his eyes and put a hand on France’s thigh. “You shouldn’t be awake this early.”

“Well, I’ll have you know it’s _your_ fault,” France said flippantly. “Don’t you want to sleep?”

England shook his head. “No,” he said quietly and closed his eyes. “I have an emergency meeting with Norway this afternoon.”

“Pardon?”

“I’ll be out for a couple of days. You should go back to Paris. I’m sorry.”

“Is this why you didn’t sleep last night? What kind of emergency is it?”

 _An American emergency_. “It’s…nothing you should concern yourself over. I’m sure it will be done in a few days.” England opened his eyes and tapped comfortingly at France’s thigh.

France just looked conflicted. “Does this have anything to do with the call you got last night?”

England gave him a tight smile. “Yes.”

France continued to look at him with the same expression.

“Don’t worry about it, frog,” England said, laughing to lighten the mood. “Aren’t you supposed to be making me breakfast?”

France pouted at him. England just kissed the pout and tapped his thigh. “Hurry up and make me breakfast, frog, I’m starving.”

France stood up with a flourish and trotted towards the kitchen. “Fine. But you’re getting plain crepes because you won’t tell me anything.”

“I want mine with peaches, darling,” England called out to him.

“Plain!” the other man replied to him.

As soon as France was out of earshot, England began scanning the room again. He saw Flying Chocolate Bunny perched on the top shelf. “What are you still doing here?” he hissed.

“You’re as disgusting as England,” Flying Chocolate Bunny tsked standing up.

England’s cheeks flushed bright red as he watched the fairy disappear back into his own world, leaving him alone in his own living room. He has to get ready for Oliver’s arrival. He sighed.

“Angleterre, if you’re not in the kitchen within five seconds, I’m making your morning tea!”

England grimaced and marched to the kitchen. “I’m coming, frog.”

* * *

Canada pushed the debris off of them, finally, sitting up and coughing as the dust puffed into the air. When the dust settled, he looked at his surroundings. They were surrounded by debris. There were no signs of burns or singes on anything, so whatever happened, it must’ve been more of a shockwave.

He looked down at the man lying beside him and saw America curled around him. There was a giant wedge of metal lodged into the back of his skull and his spine looked twisted in a very unhealthy way. He had bled everywhere. America must’ve tried to shield him from the blast.

He remembered the creepy orange light the synthesiser had emitted and he shuddered involuntarily.

He had to remove that thing from America’s head if he was going to start healing. Canada stood up and went around the back of America’s head, holding onto the wedge of metal and pulling it out carefully from America’s shattered skull. A little bit of brain matter caught onto the shrapnel. He wiped it out and stuffed it back into America’s head. Less matter to work with would speed up his healing. He nudged America’s body so that he’s lying on his stomach to prevent any more leaking.

He shuddered as he took America’s arm and put it around his shoulders. It was just his luck that he didn’t have a transporter in the cottage. He shakily stood up, carefully lifting America with him and keeping a hand on his cleaved skull so no more of his brain gushes out. At least America hasn’t gotten rigour mortis yet. The blood loss also made him lighter. It would be easier for him to resurrect that way.

He carefully made his way to the door, which was thankfully still there and not completely blocked yet. The door slid open for him, fortunately, because America had removed the security code.

He heaved America through, almost tripping over random debris. He readjusted America on his shoulder and walked through the hallway in his cottage. Apparently, the bunker had been able to absorb the blast well enough not to destroy the cottage at the front. Good thing he had put his modified Medipod here for good measure. He had a feeling that he might need it to be here especially with America experimenting.

He stopped in front of the room that held the Pearl. His security system detected him and scanned his pupil.

“ _Identity confirmed. Welcome back, Canada._ ”

The door opened and the lights within the room opened with it, illuminating the many tanks and a large pearl-like pod in the middle. Canada carried America in. “Pearl, I have a patient for you, eh.”

The Pearl opened automatically to accommodate the new patient. “Scan for damages, please,” he grunted, as he laid America face down inside the Pearl’s gel lining.

“ _Scanning_ ,” the pod answered, closing the encasing. A thin blue light went over America’s body as the initial disinfectant spray wa released inside the pod. “ _Patient deceased. Please remove from pod._ ”

“Override. Please scan for life-threatening damages and use a stronger disinfectant.”

“ _Scanning._ ” A thin red light started to go over America’s body as a spray of disinfectant was released inside the pod. “ _Punctured lung. Spinal dislocation. Severe trauma to the skull. Severe blood loss. Damaged brain. System is not programmed to perform surgery._ ”

Canada clucked his tongue. That’s right. He hasn’t programmed surgery for something like this yet into the Pearl. He took the rings on the console and put them on all of his ten fingers, noticing his left ring finger was twisted wrong. _I’ll fix that later._

“ _Manual mode activated._ ” A hologram of America’s body appeared in front of him. He could see the damages much clearer now.

“Bring up Alfred Jones’s file, please.” America’s chart appeared in front of him. “The skull, pearl.” A hologram of America’s skull appeared in front of him. “What’s the extent of the damage?”

“ _Parietal bone heavily fractured._ ”

Canada licked his lips. “Right. Secure skull structure to the optimum position, please.”

Spindly little mechanic hands clutched America’s skull and began arranging. As soon as the Pearl finished positioning America’s skull properly, Canada ran his pointer finger on the hologram version of the gash on America’s skull, the Pearl imitating his action by putting a sealant on where his finger moved along the gash. He then began pinching the hologram. Pearl simultaneously stapled the back of America’s head to secure the repair.

“Hold position, please,” Canada said, inverting America’s body slowly with a swipe of his hand. “Close skull chart.” Now that his skull was at least repaired, he’d heal faster on his own. “Show me the extent of the lung damage, please.”

“ _Left bronchioles damaged._ ” A hologram of America’s punctured lung appeared. Apparently, the rib reached in deep enough to do some damage.

He stuck his thumb a little into America’s side and slid it a few inches, making an incision on his torso. He then spread the cut little by little and saw a broken rib stuck in one of his lungs. Canada reached in carefully and removed the bone from the organ. He reattached the bone to where it broke from the ribcage, with sealant. He then sealed and stapled the cut again.

“Alfred Jones’s spine chart, please,” Canada muttered as he inverted America’s body once more. He looked back at America’s chart. “What’s the problem with his spine?”

“ _Lumbar and cervical sections of spine dislocated._ ” Pictures of America’s damaged spine appeared in front of him.

Canada cut into the skin from the base of America’s skull up to his shoulder. He put his hands on the dislocated spine and locked it in place carefully, and then sealed and stapled the skin again before moving to his lower back, doing the same thing. As soon as he was done, he stepped back a little. “Brain status?”

“ _Parietal section and Medula Oblongata collapsed with severe blood depletion_.”

He sighed in relief. At least America had already started healing. “Skull status?”

“ _Parietal bone is slightly fractured._ ”

He nodded. “Release hold. Heart status?” He started removing the rings on his finger.

“ _Manual mode deactivated. Heart unresponsive._ ”

He nodded. America was a quick healer, but resurrection still took time. All he had to do now was wait until America returns to life.


	10. Chapter 10

Norway waved at him among the crowd at the Heathrow airport. He had an earlier flight, unfortunately, but it was just as well. It would’ve been too suspicious if they came to London together.

“Have you told the other England?” Norway asked him as soon as he reached him.

“Yes,” England said, walking in-step with him. “I call him Arthur when I go to his world and he calls me Oliver.”

“Oh! How cute! The other Norge and I just call each other Norge, because he never lets me out,” Norway said, making conversation. “What did Frankrike say when you said you were leaving for London?”

“Ah, he said he understands,” England said with a weak smile. France was pretty distracted when he excused himself, most likely because of the World Cup. “But he’s staying in Kyoto to watch until the grand finals. His boss allowed him to.”

“Oh that’s right! I forgot to congratulate him. He’s playing against Uruguay next, right? I wonder if he’ll win.”

England puffed his cheeks. “Of course he’ll win!”

“Oooh! Cheering for your lover, hmmmm?” Norway teased. “Good for you!”

England blushed profusely but just kept his mouth shut.

“Do you really think Amerika went to the other world?”

“He may have,” England said quietly. America had isolated himself completely after the Middle Eastern conflict. He hasn’t been making contact with any of them for a while and he felt that it was his fault. He had been too busy to entertain him, or to even have a little chat. He knew how much America craved for attention. He should’ve–

A post to the face awakened him from his thoughts. Norway caught him before he stumbled back.

“England, are you all right?”

“I-I’m all right,” England said, vision swimming, holding onto Norway’s arms. “I just…I didn’t see…”

Norway laughed. “Are you sure you can handle cross-dimensional travelling right now?”

“Of course,” England said, his vision steadying. “You’re there…so…so…”

Norway nodded. “Ja, ja. Okay. Let’s go.” He led him away. “Are we going straight to the Stonehenge right now?”

“Ah. No,” England shook his head. “I need to pick up some supplies from home.”

“Supplies?” Norway asked, raising a brow at him. “You already have some artifacts lying around at home?”

He didn’t really wish to discuss this, mostly because Norway could be a terrible gossip and he was already going to be in a lot of trouble as it is. “Yes. Come on. I have one for you too.”

Norway’s eyes sparkled as they hailed a cabbie.

* * *

Canada woke up from his nap when he heard the distinct sound of someone choking.

America threw up on the small bag provided by the Pearl, hacking and coughing as he emptied his stomach. It was natural. His body was trying to get rid of the toxins he’d got into his system while he was dead. And he did have head trauma, after all. Canada just felt relieved that the Pearl helped speed up his healing, just as he had intended.

“W-What is this t-thing?” America rasped, patting at the inner shell of the Pearl as he shuddered violently.

“Modified medipod,” Canada said quietly. “It’s for people like us. I call it the Pearl.”

America coughed, although he might’ve been trying to laugh. “Fucking s-s-sweet.”

“Thanks,” Canada said, standing up and walking over to him. “You feeling okay?”

“I feel like shit,” he groaned, coughing. “Did I die?”

“Yep,” Canada said, shrugging. “Pierced skull, punctured lung and dislocated spine. Oh and your brain was practically fish mush.”

“Shit,” America swore, eyes rolling in the back of his head. “How many days was I out?”

“Just fifteen hours, give or take.”

“No way,” America gasped, wide-eyed, looking at him.

“Pearl helped,” Canada said, patting the modified Medipod.

“Holy shit, that’s awesome,” the other said with a shaky grin. “I gotta get myself one of these.”

“It’s still in the works,” Canada said shyly. “I had to do a little manual surgery to help her.”

America rested his head back. “When you’re finished, you gotta sell me one. Or ten.”

“That’s gonna cost you an entire state,” Canada joked, glad that America was okay enough to start joking.

“Fuck you, man,” America laughed weakly. “Imma make my own and you’re gonna regret tryna rip me off.”

“Get some rest,” Canada advised him, laughing too. “I bet you’re gonna be puking for a while, eh.”

“I need coffee, man,” America murmured. “My gut feels too fucking cold and I can’t see straight. And this Medipod smells like a fucking _hospital_.”

“That’s the disinfectant. Anyway, you can’t have cof–”

“Coffee!” America whined, giving him broken smile. “Gimme coffee!”

“No coffee!” Canada reprimanded him. “I can give you soup, but that’s it.”

“But–”

“Caffeine will put unnecessary stress on your fish mush brain, you hoser.”

“But I–” America vomited again into the bag, whimpering as he finished.

Canada shook his head and took out his canister of chicken soup. He approached America who was taking calming breaths. “Are you sure you’re well enough to eat anything?”

“Yeah, I’m sure!”

He sighed. “Pearl, full body scan, please.”

“ _Scanning._ ” A thin blue light started running over America slowly.

“Holy shit, it’s voice activated?”

“Well, it is for serious emergencies, so I had a voice activation option installed as well as the regular manual one in case the patient has a slit throat.”

“So fucking awesome,” America said as the blue light ran across his face.

“ _Patient ready for discharge._ ”

“All right!” America exclaimed, pumping his fist. “Open up, babe!”

The pod remained closed. Canada laughed. “It’s still a prototype so it only recognizes me. Discharge the patient, Pearl.”

“ _Affirmative._ ”

The pod opened and Canada helped America get down. “That was so fucking cool,” America muttered with a wide grin.

“Well, you’re the first one to use her,” Canada said, shrugging. “So congratulations, I guess.”

America gave him an amused look as he was sat down on the couch Canada had been occupying. “You do know you just upped her value by three hundred percent, right?”

Canada rolled his eyes and handed the canister to him. “Chicken soup.”

America took the canister, opened it and drank greedily. It was a good thing Canada had the canister’s temperature calibrated so the soup would be ready to wolf down at a moment’s notice. America coughed a little but continued to down the soup.

“America, don’t drink too fast.”

America set down the now empty canister at his side. “Fuck, that feels so much better,” he said, sighing, and then burped. “I’m still hungry.”

Canada took the canister from him. “I’m not putting you on solid food until maybe a few more hours.”

“Man, you suck,” America teased, laughing. “By the way, what happened to my synthesizer? Did the experiment succeed?”

Canada looked at him for a few moments and then looked down at his slippered feet. “The entire lab was totalled,” Canada informed him. “There’s debris everywhere.”

America raised a brow at him. “What happened?”

“There was an explosion…some kind of shock wave. Even your anti-blast panel couldn’t handle it.”

America was pensive for a few moments, and then he stood up and walked away from the couch. “You didn’t see anyone else there?”

Canada trailed behind him, just in case he was up to something stupid. “No. America, give it up! Your machine exploded.”

“That can’t be!” America protested. “There has to be someone there!”

“Your machine exploded. Whoever was close enough to the machine without the anti-blast panel was probably blown to smithereens.”

America didn’t listen to him and proceeded to the bunker.

“America!” Canada hollered, going to the bunker with him.

America was looking around, scanning the entire area keenly. Canada just stood at the door, watching the other. There was no point in stopping him. It was better if he just saw the wreckage himself. Maybe then he’d finally give it up.

He walked over on the debris, taking a closer look around the wreckage, as if to see if there was anyone there.

“I don’t get it,” America said, as he picked through the debris. “There’s gotta be someone here, I know it.”

“The machine probably just overloaded,” Canada said, trying to comfort America before the inevitable happened. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to have been travelling in this wreckage.”

America just continued digging through, not at all slowing down. Canada just stood in the doorway. America could be stubborn most of the time. Even if he was probably still feeling sick, he would still continue to dig through this mess until he probably cleaned up everything himself. he had to give him some credit for his determination.

“There’s an arm over there,” America pointed out as he moved his way towards it.

Canada squinted. There was. There’s an arm jutting out to where America was headed.

America got to it and tried to lift the large slab of debris away. His arms shook as he lifted it a little.

“Don’t strain yourself,” Canada said, moving over towards him. “You had a dislocated spine and broken ribs, remember?”

“Then come help me out,” America grunted, not letting go of the giant slab of metal.

Canada rolled his eyes and held on to the other end of the slab and lifted. It took some time, as the slab was pretty heavy, before they were able to move it out of the way.

There, lying in the middle of the debris was a man with bloodied brown hair and a shattered pipe sprouting out through his shoulder. Overall, he seemed to have less injuries than America had when he died. It was hard to see the man’s face under all that blood.

“He’s dead,” America muttered hand on the man’s neck. “Canada, I need help. We gotta get ‘im to your Medipod.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. He quickly walked over to the corpse and helped America carry him. “What if he’s mortal?”

He lifted the man carefully from pipe jutting out of his shoulder. “He can’t be,” America said, putting the corpse’s arm over his shoulder and steadying him. “This guy’s definitely me.”


	11. Chapter 11

France sneaked among the trees. Norway and England, both with satchels, were there, discussing with each other just beside the Stonehenge. He had his flight to London moved sooner. It was supposed to be a surprise for England, but with the man acting strange, France couldn’t help but tail him. They really were up to something suspicious, although he had thought it would be Russia here instead of Norway. He ducked into the ditch, slowly peeking at the duo to see if they noticed him skulking about.

England had exposed himself the moment he mentioned hydro-fission reactors. Russia hasn’t bought foreign reactors ever since that failed Indonesian one he got a decade ago. France’s business transaction with Russia actually involved anti-gravity efficient cranes for his ambiplax harvest. That and Russia knows never to interrupt France’s fuck sessions unless it’s very very important.

France moved a little closer, making sure not to make too much of a sound. Not that Norway and England would be on high alert. They were, after all, two of the most happy-go-lucky of their kind. As far as it goes.

What was so important that they needed to go all the way out here in the middle of nowhere to discuss something? He clenched his fists. He needed to go a little closer.

He sprinted across the meadow, almost cat-like. It helped a lot that he wore nothing but black tonight. It’s not that he doesn’t trust England. It’s just that he never really kept secrets from him, whether willingly or unwillingly. He lied, yes, a lot, in fact, but it was mostly done to avoid trouble. That said, England was most likely up to something that would get him in trouble. The fact that he didn’t come clean immediately means that he was up to something that will get him in big trouble.

What puzzled him was why they were in Wiltshire, at the Stonehenge. There was practically nothing to do here aside from watching a bunch of rocks. It was too far away a place to just talk in secret. They were definitely up to something.

He sprinted to one of the larger rocks, close enough to hear them a little.

“…and then Danmark threw away the beer!” Norway said, sounding incredulous. “What a sore loser.”

England just chuckled. “Well, he’s not really one for animals, you know.”

“Ja, but he acts as if I made him have a contest with me!”

France raised a brow. They were making small talk?

“If he couldn’t handle that even with beer, then he’s not welcome to join me when I hike. I just don’t see the point.”

“I don’t think he really likes hiking in the first place. It’s not for everyone, after all.”

“Ja, I guess. Although Kanada likes it, doesn’t he? I should hike with him sometime.”

“Oh yes, he likes it a little too much. He says he goes hunting, but I know he tries his best to save the polar bears, the sweet boy.”

“Oh? Polar bears?”

“Yes. The icecaps were melting much too fast and the poor creatures couldn’t cope quickly enough. And that new pop idol is making polar bear fur boots fashionable again so there are poachers everywhere. It breaks his heart.”

“Oh, how adorable! We’ve put special patrols to keep poachers out, but I suppose Canada has a bigger reserve of polar bears. And I’m not really connected to anyone other than Sve, so it’s good.”

France rubbed at his scruffy cheek. Did these two come all the way here just to gossip? He wasn’t an expert, but he was sure Canada was going to be pissed when that big fat gossip Norway spreads his polar bear adventures to the whole world. _Ah I can’t believe I wasted money for this._

“That sounds like a great idea!”

“Yes, I know! Maybe Kanada can form an alliance with Amerika? I mean, after we get him back, of course.”

_Get **who** back?_

“I’m not so sure that would work. They don’t really get along that well.”

“Huh? I thought they had an unguarded border for centuries?”

“Well, there are limitations. Oh! I don’t know. I should suggest it to them, yes.”

“You should.”

There was a series of clip-clopping, of what seemed like hooves. France’s brows furrowed. They brought a horse with them?

“You have both been cleared,” said an ancient-sounding voice France couldn’t recognize, alerting him that there was someone else there. “You may use the gate.”

“Excellent!” Norway cheered. “It looks like Arthur got your message.”

England laughed uneasily. “Y-Yes.”

“Oh, gatekeeper, how is it going with the Seelie Court?”

“Disconcerting. We had to monitor the gates manually since the quake. The problem persists, even in the other world.”

“Oh? Really?”

“Yes. Travelling to other worlds are kept at a minimum for now. Are there only two of you?”

_Other worlds?_

“Yes.”

“Good. Are you ready then?”

“Ja!” Norway cheered. “I’m so excited to see Norge again.”

France raised a brow at that. _Norvege is excited to see himself?_ What the fuck? They were probably using code names.

“I will be opening the gate now. Please ready yourselves.” He heard the speaker clip-clop away. It was probably a man on a horse.

France was debating whether to take a peek when a bright blue light shone behind him, making large shadows of the stones he was hiding behind. He froze. Where did that light come from? _What’s going on?_

“Okay, England. Remember, hug your knees, curl yourself into a ball and then stretch out your legs when you see the light at the end, all right?” he heard Norway say as the light turned green.

“O-Okay.” England then whimpered. “Why couldn’t I just use the regular powder like always?”

“But the Henge will help you conserve magic! Don’t worry, you’ll be okay,” Norway said, laughing. “Just don’t get stiff, okay?”

The light turned yellow.

“Okay, let’s go!”

France finally just took a peek at where Norway and England were standing, and saw that they were no longer there. Where the hell did they go? Did they go into the Stonehenge?

He stepped back from the stone he was hiding behind to get a proper look, hand shielding the light from blinding his eyes. There was a bright yellow light on the ground where the stones were standing. France couldn’t even see anything in the middle. Was England there?

His heart thumped. He licked his lips. There doesn’t seem to be a sign of any of them. He inhaled. He doesn’t know what’s going on. England and Norway were probably pulling a prank on him. He laughed and shook his head. _Of course_. That’s what it was. He smiled to himself. England was probably still thinking to get back at him after France put absinthe in his tea on April fool’s this year. It made perfect sense. Well he’ll get those two. He walked into the light.

* * *

Canada blinked his eyes open, waking up to pain shooting in his left leg. It was dark–pitch black. He tried moving his leg, but the intense pain in both his thigh and his abdomen stopped him. He gnashed his teeth as he waited for the pain to subside.

 _Broken ribs. No punctured organs at least._  Judging from the feel in his thigh, something must’ve been jammed through it. He rested his head on the floor. It looks like he had a slight concussion as well.

Breath ragged, he reached up above his head, groping for the light he’d put there earlier. Once touching it, he tapped it against the floor.

A faint light flooded into his eyes. As he started to adjust to the light, he saw parts of his tent were dented and some crushed. He fished out the tooth necklace that had been digging uncomfortably into his shoulder earlier. Considering that his tent had an ambiplax shelling, something terrible must’ve happened. _Something terrible must’ve happened to America. The retard probably got himself killed._

He scowled. _Something worse is gonna happen to that shit stain when I get my hands on him._

He looked down at his leg, examining it with the little light he had. He was right. A metal rod was jammed into his leg. It didn’t look like it went through the bone, thankfully. It was probably just under the dermis and through the muscle. It looked like the rod wasn’t about to budge soon. It looks like he’ll have to cut into his leg if he wants to free himself.

He exhaled shakily. He won’t be able to cut it cleanly. Not with the limited space his crushed tent is going to provide him. He closed his eyes. He has to wait for his ribs to heal first. Too much pain might make him pass out before he even has the chance to finish the incision.

He fumbled his front jacket pocket and pulled out a small vial. He opened it and reached down to his leg, putting a drop into his wound. He hissed as it made contact with the hole in his leg, clotting the blood so it won’t bleed anymore than it already is. The cut arteries must’ve already healed earlier.

Panting furiously, he put the vial back in his pocket, and then took out a tranquilizer dart. He injected it to his neck for a quicker effect. The easiest way for him to heal would be to sleep while his ribs repaired themselves. He removed the dart and threw it away. He has to save his painkillers for when he cuts his leg later.

His eyes began to droop, the sedative taking effect. It wasn’t a surprise that it worked so quickly–after all, it was meant for polar bears. He exhaled and closed his eyes. He drifted to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

A flash of blinding yellow light appeared at the center of the Stonehenge, followed by what sounded like something smacking against land. Arthur winced, wondering if Oliver got injured again.

When he opened his eyes, he could see the other Norway holding Oliver up by the elbow. His gatekeeper was already trotting back towards the nearby woods. England sighed and walked over to them.

“I’m sorry,” Oliver said, standing up a little shakily. “I’ve always had a problem with landings.”

Oliver had never really completely learnt the fine art of using the gates for transportation, well, as far as landing goes. The first time he did, he got a concussion, a twisted wrist and a broken shin, and rolled off unconscious to the other side of the meadow. Arthur took a while to find him. It seemed like he was much better at simple apparitions rather than using the gates.

“I told you, you should hug your knees, curl up into yourself, and then stretch out your legs once you see the first sign of light coming through,” the other Norway said gently, laughing.

“Yes, yes, I was just…I’ll remember that next time. It’s always the last part that doesn’t…stick.”

“I think he stuck his landing better this time, actually,” Arthur muttered, as soon as he was close enough. Judging from the lack of bleeding or any apparent broken bones, Oliver did pretty well.

“Artie!” the other Norway shouted, giving him a bear hug. “It’s nice to finally meet you!”

“Likewise.” Arthur just patted the other Norway’s shoulder until the other man released him, surprised at the other’s outwardly too-friendly introduction. Oliver was still doubled over. “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” Oliver said, looking up and smiling at both of them. “Just…just a little vertigo. N-Nothing to worry about.”

The other Norway snickered. “Well, you did fall pretty hard.”

“I did not!” Oliver retorted, embarrassment obvious in his flushed cheeks.

“Yes you did! I heard it!” the other Norway teased playfully.

Arthur nodded, he did hear it as well. “Right. Let’s go back to my house and I’ll get you something for that.” He turned his back on them and started going downhill. He twisting the button on his earphone, letting the list of his contacts appear in front of him.

“A-Arthur, who are you calling?”

“Hmmm?” he hummed, choosing Norway’s number. “Norway, of course. I’m informing him of your arrival.”

Oliver ran in front of him, with pleading eyes. “Arthur, please. Don’t.”

Arthur raised a brow at him, as he heard his phone ring in his ear. “Why?”

“He doesn’t know we’re coming over,” the other Norway answered cheerfully for him, walking right past them and towards Arthur’s car.

“ _What_?” Arthur snapped, making Oliver cringe.

The other line picked up.

* * *

Norway rubbed at his cheek as he looked at Russia’s hologram. He decided to just have a private conversation with him instead of trying to talk to him in a conference for obvious reasons. Besides, he had already given everyone updates, including the ones who weren’t able to attend.

“Italiya and Germaniya have not been invited,” Russia said quietly.

Norway exhaled. “Nederland and Sveits haven’t been invited either,” he replied, rubbing at his face. “Osterrike is unavailable for contact.”

“Any news from Malayziya as well?”

Norway shook his head. “And the other Amerika?

"Vasya says that he is not one to invite anyone. And that he most probably stole information instead of forming a collaboration.”

Norway nodded. “Right.”

There was a pause. “Norvegiya, Vasya tells me that our best bet is to wait out the three day-period.”

What? “But that would be too late,” Norway argued. “By then the Unseelie would have already started infesting Amerika.”

“That is if Amerika has truly succeeded. There is no other way to know,” Russia said. “Should an infestation have already occurred, we will have to contain it instead. Prevention is already out of our hands.”

Norway closed his eyes, stressed. _No other way_. “All right.”

“Prasti menya, Norvegiya. I am only relaying the message.”

“I know.” It’s too bad he had to disseminate it. He looked at Russia. “Is there any way we can locate them after the three day waiting-period?”

Russia rubbed at his chin. “To my knowledge, The first gate status that fluctuates should have both Amerikas.”

“I know that. I meant an exact location on them. Where they may be staying?”

The hologram smiled apologetically at him. “None that I know of, Norvegiya. It is still a mystery how the Unseelie Court works.”

He hung his head. The Seelie court was being too stingy about information because they were still deliberating. They would never interfere with America unless they have full jurisdiction on the country. They were on their own this time until the Seelie decide to take action. That means he was going to have to dispatch a group to search in America when they get their data and if both of them were in fact in this world. He hopes to god that America ended up in the other world instead. Sometimes he hated how bureaucratic the Seelie court could be.

“I believe at this time, it would be important to form a team. In case something untoward happens.”

“I know,” Norway sighed. “I’ve already selected a team to dispatch to the other world in case they do end up being there.”

“And who would those be?”

“Malaysia, Irland, Filippinene, and you.”

Russia smiled widely. “Me?”

“Ja. Right now, you’re his closest friend with enough magic to survive the other world.” That and the others would be too scared to disband with him around, even if they all had stronger magic than he did. The fact that the other world’s representative was also his counterpart added to his credential. He’ll be getting an earful from England about this, but it was for the best. “I’m sure your knowledge will help the (b) gates with the mission. I hope you don’t mind?”

“Not at all, Norvegiya,” Russia answered, probably a little too happy. “I would be honored.”

“Good,” Norway said, nodding. At least that was one problem solved. “If that happens, the rest of us will be here to try to contain the infestation. In the mean time, I need you to talk to the other Russland about–”

A soft ring resounded in his ear, interrupting him.

“Norvegiya?”

“Just a minute,” Norway said, holding his hand and pushing the button in his ear. “Hallo?”

“Norway,” England’s angry voice said in his ear.

Great. England. “What do you want? I’ve already given you the updates–”

“The other Norway and the other England are here.”

Norway blinked and looked at Russia. “Why are they here?” Russia’s brows rose in question. “Why are the other Norge and England here?”

“They are?” Russia asked, raising a brow. “Vasya has not issued any orders.”

“England, the other Russland didn’t issue any orders to let them come over.”

“Yes, the other Norway told me that just now.”

“Hej, Norge!” he could hear the other Norway’s faint voice in the background.

“Then why did you let them through your gate?” Norway asked, brow twitching.

“It–I thought–they were–” England stammered. “They–

"They tricked you,” Norway finished for him.

“This is a problem indeed,” Russia said, sounding amused. “Is Frantsiya not in London as well?”

That’s right. “Is Frankrike in London?”

“Of course not! I sent him home this morning!”

Norway clenched his fist. This problem just gets worse and worse. “Bring them both here at once.” It was a lot safer for them to be in Oslo than in London where they could be easily seen. “Make sure nobody sees them.” With that, he ended the call. He closed his eyes and sank into his seat.

“Relax, Norvegiya,” Russia said softly.

“Russland, I need you to contact Vasiliy. Tell him those two are here and tell him what happened.”

“Horosho,” Russia replied.

It would’ve been easier if he could contact the other Russia himself. He opened his eyes. “If there is something he would like to do about this, inform me immediately.”

“Of course, Norvegiya,” Russia said, smiling before his hologram disappeared.

Norway exhaled. _Looks like I’ll have to deal with him again._

* * *

France woke up tasting grass. He spit out the leaves and shakily sat up and looked around, shielding his eyes from the morning sun. Where was he? It didn’t feel like he was anywhere in France.

He squinted at a group of rocks in the distance. His brows jumped. The Stonehenge? What was he doing there?

It took him a few more moments before he remembered. He was tailing England, who was apparently meeting Norway here last night to talk about traveling to another world. There was a bright blinding light and then everything else was a blur.

He shook his head. Did he get hit by a car? But there were no cars. He ran his fingers through his hair, hand catching on the bow that kept his ponytail together. He yanked it out, brushed away the blades of grass and looked at it. The bow was still as immaculate as it was when he wore it last night. He exhaled. England would flip if it gets dirty. He still couldn’t explain why he was there, and to be honest, it was much too early to think.

He yawned widely. He had to get out of here. Maybe England knew why he was there? He tied his hair back again. He twisted the button on his earphone and a hologram list of his contacts appeared in front of his eyes. He kept scrolling until he could get England, and then pushed the button to start the call.

The hologram in front of his face turned red with a bright ‘No Network Coverage’ written across.

His brows knitted. That never happened before. He pushed the button again but got the same result. He sighed as the hologram disappeared.

 _Great. I’m on my own_. He might as well just go to England’s house. London isn’t too far off from Wiltshire, anyway.


	13. Chapter 13

France just looked at England’s house. Something was…off. He remembered it being pinker than usual. He shrugged. He wasn’t really the most observant person anyway. He walked up to the door, looking for a way to open it. The lock scanned his eye, surprising him. When had England put in a biometric scanner?

“ _Good day, Mr Bonnefoy_ ,” the lock said. “ _Mr Kirkland is currently away and will be so for a few days. Please do not try to break into the house. Have a nice day._ ”

France’s brows knitted. He also got an electronic butler? When did this happen? He shook his head. Well, biometric scanners were easy to trip anyway. He took out a Swiss army knife, and was about to dismantle the lock with it when the recording went off again.

“ _Wanker_!” the lock barked at him. He almost didn’t recognise the voice because of the swear word. He looked at it, bewildered. England never swears like that. “I’ve wired this bloody lock with Scotland Yard. If you try to fuck it up, the police will haul you in without question. I’m not bailing your arse out of Pentonville when I get back, I shit you not.”

France just blinked at the lock. That was–that was England’s voice. That was England’s voice swearing. He’d never heard it like that before. It was strangely… _hot_.

He shook his head. Something strange was going on here. Should he continue breaking the scanner and call the bluff or should he just go home? He had his Chunnel Express return ticket. And he could use something to drink right about now.

He pursed his lips and pocketed his army knife again. It wasn’t worth the trouble. He’ll just go home.

* * *

Oliver sat, twiddling his thumbs nervously as Norway sat beside Arthur. There were only four of them in the room–well, five if you counted the other Russia’s hologram. The small number didn’t alleviate his nervousness, however.

“Do svidanya, other Angliya, other Norvegiya,” the other Russia greeted them with a wide smile. “You can call me Ivan, or Vanya for short, during your stay.”

“G-Good evening,” Oliver replied nervously. “P-Please call me Oliver.”

“That reminds me!” Norway exclaimed. “I don’t have a name yet!”

“Let’s just make this clear once and for all,” the other Norway said, cutting his counterpart’s conversation short. “Did the other Russland tell you to come here?”

Oliver rubbed at the back of his head. “Well, technically…”

“No,” Norway answered for him. “Not yet, anyway. He said we’re supposed to wait.”

The other Norway rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “Well, that’s that then.” He looked Vanya. “Any news from the other Russland?”

Vanya just smiled. “Vasya…the other Rossiya, is…hmmm…livid.”

Oliver winced. “I’m so sorry. It’s just that I was so worried that something bad might’ve happened to America. And knowing him, he would’ve definitely aimed to come here instead of taking in guests back in our world.”

“That’s not enough justification,” Arthur snapped. “You can’t just do something because you feel like it!”

Vanya chuckled. “Well. He is not the only one who has been insubordinate here.”

Arthur turned on him. “I didn’t know they weren’t supposed to be here yet!”

“England, Russland, stop it,” the other Norway said, leaning back in his chair. “This is no time to fight.”

“What’s the big deal? Nothing bad happened,” Norway tried to justify light-heartedly.

“Be quiet,” the other Norway muttered to him.

“We are not fond of insubordination,” Vanya said with a smile. “Vasya’s ire is understandable.”

“We were disobedient, ja, but no one got hurt,” Norway reasoned with him, matching his smile.

“We can’t go around doing whatever we like!” Arthur retorted. “If we’re going to fix this problem, we have to be organized.”

“Such big words. Yet you did not think to verify it with Norvegiya when you have received the message.”

“I thought–I–I thought it was an issued order.”

“I cannot say that it is unexpected,” Russia said, quietly. “One can fall for such simplistic tactics. Right, Angliya?”

“Shut it,” Arthur snarled at him.

“What are we going to do about this?” Norway asked, already weary.

“They could return,” Arthur suggested. “We don’t want to be at odds with the other team–”

“You may stay, of course,” Russia interrupted him. “I shall speak to Vasya myself.”

“Really?” Oliver asked, eyes hopeful.

“Of course. You have disobeyed orders because of compassion, da? I can understand that very well.”

“Oh _please_ ,” Arthur scoffed at him.

“If you desire, you may stay at my home,” Vanya offered. “You will be more than welcomed.”

Oliver blinked at him, surprised at this Russia’s hospitality. He was so different from the one he was used to. “That’s very generous–”

“No. He’ll be staying with me,” Arthur cut him off curtly.

Vanya turned to Arthur. “Why, Angliya. Here I was thinking that you did not want the responsibility.”

Arthur’s eyes flashed dangerously. “Oliver. Is. Staying. With. Me.”

Vanya just shrugged. “What about you, other Norvegiya?”

“I’m staying with Norge!” Norway cheered, holding onto his counterpart’s arm.

Vanya grinned at all of them. “Then I shall be seeing all of you once I talk to Vasya.”

The others agreed, and Russia’s hologram disappeared.

“I need a name too, Norge!” Norway said excitedly to his counterpart. “I want something cool that matches like the Russlands and the Englands!”

The other Norway pursed his lips, not looking at him. “We’ll stick with Norge and Haalvard.”

“But that’s not cool!” Norway whined.

“H-How about Thor?” Oliver suggested nervously. “That sounds cool, right?”

“I like that!” Norway exclaimed, nodding at him vigorously. “That’s good! And Norge can be Tyr!”

“My name is Haalvard,” the other Norway muttered, face blank.

“Tyr it is!”

Oliver would have watched some more but Arthur had already grabbed his elbow and yanked him away from the scene and the room. He must be very very angry.

“A-Arthur, I’m sorr–”

“Save your apologies for later,” Arthur muttered. “Let’s get out of here before Norway murders you.”

 _Murder? Oh dear_. “We’re going back to London then?” he asked, stumbling a little.

“No. We’ll be staying at Wiltshire. No one will think to look for me there.”

* * *

France held his hands up in surrender as he stepped away from the scanner. He didn’t really know why he tripped the alarm. That never happened to him before.

A very big red-headed lady employee came over to him. “May I see your ticket, please?”

France nodded, taking out his ticket from his wallet and handing it to her.

The employee read the ticket and then handed it back to him. “Your Eurostar ticket, please.”

France raised a brow at her. _Eurostar? What the hell is that?_ “Euh…pardon?”

The employee blushed and coughed. “Erm…une ti–b-billet–de Eurostar, Monsieur. V-Vous davez…erm…l'avoir…si vous voulez…erm…?” She then made motions towards the train. “Eurostar.”

He just scowled at her, confused. “Eurostar?” Since when was it called that?

She coughed again. “Did I pronounce it wrong? Erm…j-je suis desolee. E-Excusez-moi, s'il vous plait.” Her hand flew up to her ear. “We need a French translator here–”

“I know how to speak English,” France interrupted her.

“Oh! I’m so sorry–I didn’t mean to–I mean…”

“Lookit the loser,” a young lady commented out loud to the young man beside her.

“Move over, loser,” the young man said, bumping against France and the lady employee, the young lady trailing behind him and guffawing.

“Oh, look at that,” France said, with a big smile, holding up the ticket he’d swiped from the rude man. “It was here after all. I’m sorry. Sleep-deprived, you know?”

The young lady took his ticket, inspected it and then returned it to him. “One way ticket to Paris, France. Thank you. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience.”

“It was no problem. You’re welcome,” he said with a pleasant smile. He turned back to his usual expression once the lady had left. Something screwy was going on in here and he’s not really sure what. First he hears England use real profanity, and then he was riding a ‘eurostar’ or whatever it was. Since when did they rename the Chunnel Express? He doesn’t remember approving of the name change.


End file.
